North Sea operators Vår Energi and Kistos have reached a final investment decision (FID) on the Balder Phase VI project in Norway.
Vår Energi said the fast-track development will be a “key contributor to sustaining long term, high-value production” through the Jotun floating production vessel (FPSO).
Vår Energi chief operating officer Torger Rød said the Balder area in the North Sea is one of Vår Energi’s “core hubs” and “constitutes significant future resource potential”.
“With the Jotun FPSO now installed as the new area host, we will continue to unlock additional high value barrels from the Balder area through several phases of new developments and field optimisations,” Rød said.
“This includes Balder phase V, which will come on stream later this year.
“And with the FID for Balder Phase VI we are taking yet another important step to sustain production from the area through short time to market developments.”
Vår Energi, a subsidiary of Italian firm Eni, holds a 90% stake as operator of the Balder field, with UK firm Kistos holding a 10% stake as partner.
Balder Phase VI
The Balder Phase VI project will develop around 15 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) of gross proved plus probable (2P) reserves for a capital spend of NOK 2.6 billion (USD 260 million) gross, Vår Energi said.
The Norwegian firm said the project has “strong economics”, with a break-even well below 35 USD per barrel and an internal-rate-of-return (IRR) above 35%.
Vår Energi said the Balder Phase VI project will pay back in less than a year from start of production at current prices.
The project consists of one additional multilateral production well, installation of a new subsea template, and a flowline that will be tied into the Jotun FPSO.
Balder Phase VI is expected to come onstream by the end of 2026.
© Supplied by V?r EnergiAlongside Balder Phase VI, Vår Energi said it is progressing several additional early phase projects including Balder Next.
The Balder Next project is targeting additional gross contingent resources of around 55 mmboe, with the project involving taking the Balder Floating Production Unit (FPU) to shore for decommissioning, planned in 2028.
Selected wells producing though Balder FPU will be transferred to the Jotun FPSO. In addition, production will be accelerated as part of the Jotun FPSO debottlenecking project to increase production capacity on the FPSO, as well as developing new production wells.
The decommissioning of Balder FPU is expected to reduce operating costs by approximately $130m gross per annum and reduce CO2 emissions by around 80,000 tonnes gross per year.
With Jotun FPSO serving as the new area host at the Balder field, production is expected to remain at 70-80 kboepd gross towards 2030.
