The Troll C platform in the North Sea

Equinor and its Fram partners will invest more than NOK 21 billion in a new subsea development. The plan for development and operation was this week submitted to the Minister of Energy, Terje Aasland.

"Fram Sør will contribute to security of energy supply from the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) to Europe. The development will put new oil and gas resources on stream by connecting new infrastructure to existing facilities that provide good and robust profitability. With the host platform Troll C being powered from shore, the production from Fram Sør will have very low emissions. The project will generate activity for the Norwegian supply industry, with an estimated employment effect of 4,500 full-time equivalents (FTEs) during the development period," says Geir Tungesvik, Equinor's executive vice president, Projects, Drilling & Procurement.

The Fram Sør project is a combined development of several discoveries that will export oil and gas via Troll C. Recoverable volumes are estimated at 116 million barrels of oil equivalent, 75 percent of which is oil and 25 percent is gas. Production is scheduled to start at the end of 2029.

The CO2 intensity for the Fram Sør development is estimated at about 0.5 kg of CO2 per barrel of oil equivalent. The average for the NCS is 8 kg. The industry average is about 16 kg per barrel of oil equivalent (IOGP 2023).

"We have done a thorough job maturing the new resources discovered in the Fram and Troll area in recent years. Fram Sør shows the importance of area solutions and close collaboration between partners and authorities in order to realise the resource values on a mature NCS. We have a large portfolio of projects that will phase in discoveries to our producing fields. Equinor expects to put more than 50 such projects on stream by 2035," says Kjetil Hove, Equinor's executive vice president for Exploration & Production Norway.

In the autumn of 2019, Equinor and partners made a discovery of oil and gas in the Fram area of the North Sea. This discovery, called Echino South, supported the belief that more oil could be found, and contributed to nine discoveries made in the Troll-Fram area over a four-year period. In the spring of 2021, Equinor and partners made the Blasto discovery. Together with two smaller discoveries in previous years, Echino South and Blasto form the basis for Fram Sør.

The field development is also technologically groundbreaking. As the first on the NCS, Fram Sør will use all-electric Christmas trees that eliminate the need for hydraulic fluid supplied from the platform and improve monitoring capabilities of the subsea equipment. It is an efficient and reliable system for operating subsea Christmas trees, as well as reducing the risk of environmental impact.

The Fram Sør investments will contribute to the Norwegian supply industry both in the development and operation phases. A ripple effect study conducted by Kunnskapsparken in Bodø indicates an employment effect of 4,500 full-time equivalents in Norway through the development period. Most of the suppliers have a Norwegian invoice address, but some of the construction takes place abroad.

In total, the contracts will have a value of about NOK 18 billion.

All contracts will be subject to regulatory approval.

Fram partners: Equinor Energy AS (45%), Vår Energi ASA (40%) and INPEX Idemitsu Norge AS (15%).

Key facts

• Fram Sør is located in the northern part of the North Sea, ~20 km north of Troll C and ~120 km northwest of Bergen. The water depth in the area is approx. 350 metres, and the reservoir depth is between 1800 – 2800 metres.
• Fram Sør is a subsea development with 4 x 4 subsea templates. Twelve wells are planned for start-up and four well slots will be available for later development in the Fram/Troll area.
• The subsea templates will be tied back to existing Fram infrastructure and to the Troll C platform for processing and export.
• Oil from the Fram field is transported through Troll Oil Pipeline II to Mongstad, and gas is exported to Kollsnes via the Troll A platform.

Contracts

Equinor has completed the front-end engineering and design phase (FEED) with four main suppliers, all of whom have the option to perform the work they have studied.

• OneSubsea has conducted studies of subsea systems
• Subsea7 has explored marine installation
• TechnipFMC has studied umbilicals
• Aker Solutions has studied platform modification.

During 2025, contracts will also be awarded for pipe deliveries, fibre optic cable and rock installation. In addition, the project will need rig capacity.

KeyFacts Energy: Equinor Norway country profile