Norwegian Government Turns, Landing Oil and Gas in Finnmark

Published at: Jun 10 2020 - 09:23 / Updated at: Jun 10 2020 - 09:23

The Norwegian government has turned and will aim for landing oil and gas from the Johan Castberg field in Finnmark after all, following an agreement with opposition parties Labor, the Progress party and the Center Party. The decision was part of a negotiated deal about oil taxes that was concluded last Monday.

Last December, Equinor, Vår Energi and state-owned petoro dropped their original plans about landing oil and gas from the Castberg field in Finnmark. The Johan Castberg field lies 100 kilometers north of the Snowhite field, which in turn lies 140 kilometers northeast of Hammerfest, Norway.

The investment costs for the Castberg field are estimated at NOK 47.2 billion (2017). Production is scheduled to commence in the 4^th quarter of 2022 and the field is expected to hold exploitable resources equivalent to 558 million barrels of oil. It is to produce for 30 years, according to a parliament whitepaper.