Equinor pledges $1.44bn investment to deepwater Arctic gas field
Equinor have announced they will invest $1.44bn in developing one of the deepest gas fields off the coast of Norway – as the West looks to secure supplies following a Russian gas squeeze.
The energy giant is pushing to develop the Arctic Irpa gas discovery in the Norwegian Sea.
Its water depth of around 1.3km makes Irpa, previously known as Asterix, makes it one of the deepest sites to be developed offshore Norway.
The site is also the country’s fourth producing petroleum field north of the Arctic circle.
According to the partnership’s development plan – the project aims to develop around 20bn cubic meters of natural gas for export to Europe via the Aasta Hansteen platform some 80km (50 miles) east of Irpa,
Production is expected to start in the final quarter of 2026 and last until 2039, the development plan showed.
Norway’s energy ministry said: “The Irpa development will use available processing capacity on the Hansteen platform when production gradually declines and at the same time contribute to extending the life of the Hansteen field,”
It was not immediately clear how much gas could be pumped each day at peak production.
Equinor, the field’s operator, has a 51 per cent stake in the Irpa license.
A range of other energy firms also have stakes, with state-owned Petoro holding 20 per cent, Wintershall Dea 19 per cent, and Shell 10 per cent.