Oljedirektoratet

A milestone for the Barents Sea

05/12/2017 The licensees in the Johan Castberg discovery in the Barents Sea submitted a Plan for Development and Operation (PDO) to the authorities today.

The development concept facilitates further development of this petroleum province. Expected investments are up to NOK 50 billion.

Johan Castberg is located 240 kilometres northwest of the Melkøya LNG plant in Hammerfest and 100 kilometres north of the Snøhvit field. The water depth in the area is around 400 metres. Johan Castberg will become the northernmost development on the Norwegian shelf.

The proposed development concept is a floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) with an associated subsea facility with wells. Oil will be loaded on the field and transport ships will ship the oil to the market.

At the same time, operator Statoil is cooperating with the other operators in the Barents Sea to investigate the possibilities of finding a profitable oil terminal solution at Veidnes in Finnmark County.

The plan is to start production in the fourth quarter of 2022, eleven years after the discovery well 7220/8-1. The field has an expected lifetime of 30 years.

It is expected that 88.7 million standard cubic metres of oil can be recovered from Johan Castberg. This corresponds to 558 million barrels. The basis for the development is oil discoveries in three separate deposits (Skrugard, Havis and Drivis).

Johan Castberg will become the first infrastructure in this petroleum province and will thus become an important building block for future activity in the Barents Sea southwest and further north. The authorities have been concerned with ensuring that a solution is chosen that facilitates further development of the province, instead of a solution that is tailored just for Johan Castberg’s needs.

Johan Castberg is located in production licence 532. Statoil is the operator with an ownership interest of 50 per cent. The other licensees are Eni with 30 per cent and Petoro with 20 per cent.

Johan Castberg Illustrasjon: Grafisk Geologi & Print / Statoil

Johan Castberg
Illustration: Grafisk Geologi & Print / Statoil

Updated: 05/12/2017

Latest news

Announcement of awards in predefined areas (APA) 2024
08/05/2024 The Ministry of Energy announced APA 2024 on 8 May 2024, encompassing the predefined areas with blocks in the Norwegian Sea, Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea.
Drilling permission for the wells 7324/6-2 and 7324/8-4
06/05/2024 The Norwegian Offshore Directorate has granted Aker BP ASA drilling permit for the wells 7324/6-2 and 7324/8-4 in production license 1170, cf. Section 13 of the Resource Management Regulations.
Eight companies have applied for CO2 storage acreage
30/04/2024 The Norwegian Ministry of Energy has received applications from eight companies in connection with the announcement of two areas in the North Sea for potential storage of CO2 on the Norwegian shelf.
Invitation to nominate blocks for mineral activities on the seabed
29/04/2024 In a letter of 29 April, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate invited players to nominate blocks in connection with the first licensing round for mineral activities on the seabed.
Drilling permission for wells 35/10-14 S and 35/10-14 A
29/04/2024 The Norwegian Offshore Directorate has granted Equinor Energy AS drilling permit for wells 35/10-14 S and 35/10-14 A in production license 1185, cf. Section 13 of the Resource Management Regulations.
Well for data acquisition on Wisting
22/04/2024 Equinor has completed an appraisal well (7324/7-4) on the Wisting discovery in the Barents Sea. The objective was to acquire data on the reservoir and cap rock, for use in ongoing evaluation and development of the discovery.
Production figures March 2024
19/04/2024 Preliminary production figures for March 2024 show an average daily production of 2 086 000 barrels of oil, NGL and condensate.
Norwegian Offshore Directorate publishes new deep sea data
17/04/2024 In June 2022, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate published data collected up to 2022. The Directorate is now releasing deep sea data gathered from 2022 to 2024.
The future in the Barents Sea is here now
17/04/2024 The Johan Castberg ship will soon be heading north. With the ship in place, the plan is to have three producing fields in the Barents Sea by the end of the year.
Oil discovery in the North Sea
17/04/2024 Vår Energi has made an oil discovery in "Ringhorne Nord" (wells 25/8-23 S and 25/8-23 A & B), north of the Ringhorne Øst field, 200 kilometres northwest of Stavanger.