Vår Energi lets SURF contract for Balder Next development

Vår Energi has let a project management, engineering, flexible pipelines, and risers product supply (SURF) contract to Ocean Installer for the Balder Next development in the Norwegian sector of the central North Sea.

The Balder Next – New Wells project will expand production by introducing six new subsea wells and preparing infrastructure for further tie-backs. The project will be executed by Vår Energi’s Subsea Partnership, with Ocean Installer responsible for the SURF and OneSubsea responsible for the subsea production system (SPS).

Front end engineering and procurement activities are currently under way, with flexible products manufacturing scheduled to commence in 2025, and offshore operations planned for 2027 and 2028.

Balder field lies in about 125 m of water and comprises a series of sandstone deposits of Jurassic, Paleocene, and Eocene age at a depth of about 1,700 m subsea. It has been developed with subsea wells tied-back to the Balder production, storage, and offloading vessel (FPSO).

Balder Next will target additional gross contingent resources of about 55 MMboe and consists of taking the Balder Floating Production Unit (FPU), tied back to the FPSO for oil processing and storage for offload onto shuttle tankers, to shore for decommissioning, planned in 2028. Selected wells producing though the Balder FPU will be transferred to the Jotun FPSO. 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 comapny has said.

The remaining scope of the Balder Next – New Wells project is subject to a final investment decision by the license partners.

Vår Energi is operator (90%) of Balder field, with Kistos Energy Norway AS as partner (10%).