Equinor’s Askeladd brings more feed gas to Hammerfest LNG

Equinor Energy AS has brought Askeladd field onstream, helping to extend plateau production from Hammerfest LNG plant (HLNG) on Melkøya Island in northern Norway by up to 3 years, the company said in a release Dec. 12.

Phase 1 of Askeladd will bring 18 billion cu m (bcm) of gas and 2 million cu m of condensate to the European market via HLNG (OGJ Online, Mar. 14, 2018).

Askeladd is a satellite field of Snøhvit field in the Barents Sea and developed with three wells via two subsea templates and tied in to Snøhvit infrastructure and HLNG.

During normal production, the plant delivers 18.4 million standard cu m/d of gas, or 6.5 bcmy, about 5% of all Norwegian gas exports.

Askeladd Phase 1 was originally completed in 2020, but start-up had to wait until the Melkøya plant resumed operations after the fire the same year. The operator restarted production at the plant earlier this year (OGJ Online, June 2, 2022).

Askeladd is the first of several projects in the further development of Snøhvit field and the infrastructure around HLNG. Next up is Askeladd West with two new wells tied back to existing infrastructure, before further development continues with onshore compression and electrification through the Snøhvit Future project.

The Snøhvit licensees are Equinor Energy ASA (36.79%), Petoro AS (30%), TotalEnergies EP Norge AS (18.4%), Neptune Energy Norge AS (12%), and Wintershall DEA Norge AS (2.81%).