Shell starts production from Ormen Lange Phase III

June 30, 2025

Two new subsea compressors have been installed on the seabed offshore Norway. The aim is to increase the amount of gas recovered from the field to 85% from 75%.

Illustration of Ormen Lange subsea compression station layout.

Shell plc has started subsea compression to increase gas production from Ormen Lange field in the Norwegian Sea.

Two new subsea compressors have been installed on the seabed, about 120 km from shore, and connected directly to the Nyhamna processing plant. The aim is to increase the amount of gas recovered from the field to 85% from 75%, Shell said in a release on June 27.

According to the plan for development and operation, the compressors are expected to recover an additional of 30–50 billion cu m of gas from Ormen Lange field (OGJ Online, Sept. 22, 2021).

The field, which lies in water depth of 900-1,000 m, was discovered in 1997 and has been producing since 2007. It is electrified with power from the Norwegian grid and the gas is processed in a closed system at the Nyhamna gas plant. Gas is exported to the European market through Langeled and the Norwegian gas export system.

SLB OneSubsea has served as the main project contractor for the offshore scope of the wet gas compression project and Aker Solutions has served as the main project contractor for the onshore scope (OGJ Online, Nov. 1, 2019).

Ormen Lange is operated by Shell (17.8%), with partners Petoro (36.5%), Equinor (25.3%), Orlen Upstream Norway (14%), and Vår Energi (6.3%).