Bad weather is delaying the start of the new arctic oil field in Norway

Equinor has postponed the start of his Johan Castberg Oilfield in the Barents Sea in the Arctic due to bad weather, a spokesman for the Norwegian Energyajors told Reuters on Monday.

This is the second delay at the start of the oil field, after Equinor was postponed to January or February 2025 by a first start date by the end of 2024 due to bad weather.

Now the deadline has also declined in February 2025, in the middle of continuing bad weather in the Arctic waters of the Meer.

“We are in the last route, but with the weather we have made challenges that causes problems for both the ship and helicopter traffic,” Equinor's spokesman said to Reuters today.

Johan Castberg, a large field in the Barents Sea, has appreciated reconior volumes between 450 and 650 million barrels of crude oil. The resource base for the development of the Johan Castberg field consists of the three oil findings: Skrugard, Havis and Drivis.

The field will produce for 30 years, and at its climax, Johan Castberg will be able to produce 220,000 barrels per day (BPD), says Equinor.

Production is carried out via a floating product for production, storage and loading ships (FPSO), which was anchored in the field in September.

Norway expects its product production of the oil fluids in 2024 to increase by 5.2%, also thanks to Johan Castberg.

The Opec also sees Norway as one of the producers who would contribute this year alongside the USA, Canada and Brazil to increase oil production from non -OPEC+ countries.

However, further exploration efforts and new discoveries would be crucial to slow down the expected decline in oil and gas production in Norway in the 2030s, according to the authorities of the largest oil and gas producer in Western Europe in recent years.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Ölprice.com

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