Norwegian giant Equinor has unveiled further cost reductions at its giant Johan Sverdrup field in the North Sea.
The operator revealed Thursday that the investment costs for the first phase of development had been reduced by an additional Nkr3 billion ($346.9 million).
This brings the total cost reductions on the project to Nkr40 billion since the plan for development was submitted in 2015 and originally estimated to cost Nkr123 billion.
“With a planned start up later this year, and faster ramp up to reach plateau production during summer next year, the project will produce and create substantial value for decades to come,” Equinor chief executive Eldar Saetre said.
The news of cost reductions at Johan Sverdrup came as Equinor posted a rise in profits for the second quarter of the year despite a fall in revenue.
The company’s profit for the June quarter totalled $1.48 billion, up 21% from last year’s $1.22 billion second quarter profit.
The underlying result was down however, with Equinor’s adjusted earnings after tax totalling $1.13 billion, down from $1.7 billion a year ago.
This came as revenue fell from $18.14 billion in the second quarter of 2018 to $17.1 billion in the recent quarter.
Equinor attributed the drop to lower prices, high turnaround activity and some quarter specific items which effected results.
Equity production during the recent quarter averaged more than 2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day which was on par with the same quarter last year, with Equinor noting natural field decline had been offset by the ramp-up of new fields on the Norwegian continental shelf.
“We deliver overall solid operational performance and maintain high production in a quarter with lower commodity prices and high maintenance activity,” Saetre said.
The company expects output this year to remain in line with 2018 and warned scheduled maintenance activity was expected to reduce output in the third quarter by roughly 50,000 boepd.
