Equinor begins production at Johan Castberg

Equinor Energy AS began production at Johan Castberg oil field in the Barents Sea on Mar. 31, 2025. The field is expected to produce for 30 years.

Twelve of the 30 total wells are ready for production, sufficient to bring the field up to expected plateau production in second-quarter 2025, the operator said in a release Mar. 31. Drilling operations are expected to continue towards late 2026.

Johan Castberg lies 100 km north of Snøhvit field in Blocks 7219/9 and 7220/4,5,7 in 360-390 m of water. The field consists of Skrugard, Havis, and Drivis discoveries made between 2011 and 2014. It is the second oil field in the Barents Sea and Norway’s northernmost field.

Field development is based on a production vessel tied back to an extensive subsea field with a total of 30 wells distributed between 10 well templates and two satellite structures (OGJ Online, Dec. 10, 2024).

The Equinor-operated Johan Castberg FPSO has a gross capacity of 220,000 b/d of oil. Its design storage capacity is 1.1 million bbl of oil. The field holds gross recoverable volumes of 450-650 million bbl of oil.  

The Johan Castberg area holds upside as several new discoveries made in recent years are already being matured into projects, including Johan Castberg Cluster 1, said partner Vår Energi ASA. Cluster 2 is progressing through near field exploration, and an extensive infill drilling program is being planned, the company said. A total of 250-550 million bbl of oil of additional gross unrisked recoverable resources have been identified in the area.

Equinor is operator (46.3%) with partners Vår Energi ASA (30%) and Petoro AS (23.7%).