Equinor's Arctic Johan Castberg Oilfield delayed by weather

A spokesperson for Equinor said that the start-up of oil production at Equinor’s Arctic Johan Castberg Field has again been delayed due to bad weather.

Castberg will become the second oilfield to come on stream in the Norwegian Barents Sea sector after Vaar Energi’s Goliat, which came online in 2016.

Equinor previously stated that it would start up the field at the end February after delaying its launch from the end 2024.

In an email, a company spokesperson said, "We're in the final stretch but we have had to deal with weather challenges that are causing issues for both helicopter and vessel traffic."

Castberg is estimated to contain between 450 and 650 million barrels worth of recoverable crude oil. Its floating production, storage, and offloading vessel (FPSO) has the capacity to produce up to 220,000 barrels a day.

Equinor said that it also expected Castberg would serve as a hub to produce hydrocarbons from smaller discoveries near by.

Equinor owns 50% of the Castberg oil field, while Vaar Energi (controlled by Eni) and Norway's Petoro each have 30% and 20%.

Originally, Castberg's FPSO construction was scheduled to begin in 2022. However, the Covid-19 Pandemic has delayed the project. (Reporting and editing by Terje Solsvik, with Nerijus Adomiaitis)

(source: Reuters)