New Depth Record Set at Snefrid Nord

Equinor and its partners started production from the Snefrid Nord gas field on September 1. The project is the first discovery tied back to the Norwegian Sea Aasta Hansteen field, and it also sets a new depth record on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS).

Recoverable resources for Snefrid Nord are estimated at 4.4 billion standard cubic metres of gas (27.5 million barrels oil equivalents) and some condensate. This will extend plateau production from Aasta Hansteen by almost a year. On plateau Snefrid Nord will produce four million cubic metres of gas per day, and production is planned for five to six years. Licence owners are Equinor Energy (operator, 51 percent). Wintershall Dea (24 percent) OMV (Norge) (15 percent) and ConocoPhillips Skandinavia (10 percent).

Aasta Hansteen came on stream in December 2018. The field is located in 1,300 meters (4,265 feet) of water in the Vøring area in the Norwegian Sea. Together with the Polarled pipeline the field opened a new region in the Norwegian Sea for gas export to Europe. Snefrid Nord was discovered in 2015, and in 2017 the field development was sanctioned. The concept includes one well in a subsea template tied back to the Aasta Hansteen field by a pipeline and an umbilical. The template is installed at a water depth of 1,309 meters (4,295 feet), making Snefrid Nord the deepest field development on the NCS.

The template and the suction anchor have been delivered by Aker Solutions in Sandnessjøen, which also delivered the Aasta Hansteen template. The Transocean Spitsbergen rig drilled the well while drilling the Aasta Hansteen wells, and Subsea 7 installed the template in the same campaign as the Aasta Hansteen risers. Pipeline end termination (PLET) for Snefrid Nord has been delivered by Momek in Mo i Rana.

With the infrastructure in place, Equinor says more satellites may be developed in the area.