ConocoPhillips and its partners intend to invest about 20 billion Norwegian crowns - equivalent to $2.11 billion - to restart production at three late-life fields in the Greater Ekofisk area, according to plans submitted to the Norwegian government on Friday. The program is being carried out under the Previously Produced Fields (PPF) banner and focuses on extracting additional hydrocarbons from Albuskjell, Vest Ekofisk and Tommeliten Gamma.
Those three fields, which were taken offline in 2019, are now targeted for redevelopment with a timetable that foresees initial gas production beginning in the fourth quarter of 2028. ConocoPhillips has published an estimate that the three areas still contain between 90 million and 120 million barrels of oil equivalent in natural gas and condensate.
The fields are spread across multiple offshore licences and are held by a group of partners with differing ownership shares. ConocoPhillips holds a 35.1% interest in both Albuskjell and Vest Ekofisk, and a 28.3% interest in Tommeliten Gamma. Co-owners on Albuskjell and Vest Ekofisk are Vaar Energi with a 52.3% stake, Orlen Upstream with 7.6% and the state-owned Petoro with 5%.
Ownership of Tommeliten Gamma is split with Orlen controlling 62.6% and Vaar Energi holding 9.1%, alongside ConocoPhillips' 28.3% interest. The PPF initiative is aimed at returning production to fields that had been previously operated and subsequently shut in, applying capital to recover remaining gas and condensate.
The company provided the currency conversion used in the announcement: $1 equals 9.4750 Norwegian crowns. The filing makes clear the project timeline target is the end of 2028 for initial production flow.
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