Sverdrup keeps on giving

Equinor and its partners at Norway’s largest oilfield have pulled the trigger on a fresh $1.3b investment that will maintain high output for longer

Equinor and its partners greenlit a NOK13b ($1.3b) third stage of development at the end of June at the Johan Sverdrup field, already Norway’s biggest source of oil production, unlocking 40–50m boe of recoverable reserves. Sverdrup has been the driving force behind Norwegian oil production growth since its launch in October 2019 and now accounts for around a third of national output, helping offset decline at older North Sea assets in recent years. The field has consistently outperformed projections. Originally, it was due to produce 440,000b/d during its NOK83b first phase, but Equinor later raised the target to 470,000b/d and then 535,000b/d. The NOK41b second phase, started in 2023, raise