Spirit Energy has together with three other oil companies selected a concept for developing six discoveries in a joint unitisation project on Haltenbanken in the Norwegian Sea. The development concept is a subsea tie-back to Åsgard B platform, utilising existing facilities and infrastructure.

The Haltenbanken East project will be developed as a unit between four different licences and comprises six discoveries and three prospects with a combined volume in the order of 100 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe), mostly gas.

Gunn Gadeholt, Asset Manager at Spirit Energy, said: “These discoveries were basically considered stranded assets – it would not have been economically viable to develop any of them on their own. The unitisation approach will unlock the potential and deliver value both in the development- and production phases of the project. It’s a smart solution that we and our partners can be proud of.”

The project is planned to be executed in two phases. The first will consist of drilling of six wells to five of the discoveries. The second phase includes the last discovery and three prospects, planned to be drilled as side-tracks from existing wells.

Robust economics

Gadeholt said: “Haltenbanken East delivers robust economics and is a good strategic fit for Spirit Energy. The objective of the next project phase is to mature the project towards a final investment decision (DG3) in the first half of 2022.”

Submission of a Plan for Development and Operations (PDO) to the Norwegian authorities is scheduled in the second half of 2022.

Spirit Energy has a 11.8% working interest in the Haltenbanken East development. Equinor (57.7%) is operator, while the other licence partners are Vår Energi (24.6%) and Petoro (5.9%).

About Spirit Energy

Spirit Energy was created in 2017 following the combination of Centrica’s Exploration & Production business and Bayerngas Norge AS. The business is 69%-owned by Centrica plc, with the remaining 31% owned by Bayerngas Norge’s former shareholders, led by Stadtwerke München and Bayerngas GmbH.

The independent company was formed to combine a complementary mix of producing and development assets, and creates a robust, self-financing business to allow both organic and inorganic growth.