Equinor is overseeing 19 projects currently under development in Norway. According to the proposed National Budget for 2025, the Ministry of Energy highlighted the status of 13 Equinor-operated projects, either under development or recently completed.
These projects represent a total investment of 198 billion NOK from initiation to commissioning.
“Equinor has a strong portfolio of profitable projects in Norway, contributing to the long-term supply of oil and gas to Europe. In 2023, our developments generated high activity and 25 billion NOK for the Norwegian supplier industry. Alongside our partners, we have successfully completed six projects over the past year,” said Trond Bokn, Equinor’s head of project development.
However, the reported projects have seen a cost increase of 6.5 billion NOK (2024-NOK) over the last year, approximately 3%. The overall cost increase since the plans for development and operation (PDOs) is 32.9 billion NOK, with 12.4 billion attributed to currency fluctuations. Excluding the Johan Castberg project and currency effects, the cost increase for these projects is around 3% since the PDOs.
Two projects, Johan Castberg and the Oseberg gas compression and partial electrification, have experienced cost increases of more than 20% post-PDO and were specifically mentioned in the proposed budget.
Johan Castberg
The production ship is now anchored at the field, and Johan Castberg is on schedule to begin operations by the end of the year. Costs have increased by 2.2 billion NOK since last year due to extended time at Aker Solutions in Stord, currency fluctuations, and general price rises. Currency effects account for 800 million NOK of this. Since the PDO, costs have risen by 25.7 billion NOK, with 8.1 billion due to currency effects.
Oseberg Gas Phase 2 and Power from Shore (OGP)
The OGP project involves partial electrification of the Oseberg Field Centre and Oseberg Sør, along with the installation of a new compressor module at the field centre. Costs have increased by 1.2 billion NOK in the last year, and since the PDO, total costs have risen by 2.5 billion NOK. This increase is due to delayed transformer delivery, caused by a fire at Hitachi’s Vaasa factory in 2023, and added project complexity. The commissioning date has been postponed from 2026 to late 2027.
Snøhvit Future
The Snøhvit Future project, which includes onshore compression and electrification of Hammerfest LNG on Melkøya, has seen a cost increase of 1.9 billion NOK since the PDO, with over 500 million attributed to currency effects. The increase is largely due to a joint venture decision to redesign an electric boiler for safety reasons.
