(WO) – Equinor has entered into an agreement to acquire Shell’s equity in and operatorship of the Linnorm natural gas discovery in the Norwegian Sea.

Under this agreement, Equinor will acquire a 30% interest in the PL 255 covering the Linnorm natural gas discovery. The deal is expected to close during the first quarter of 2024.

The Linnorm discovery in the Norwegian Sea was proven in 2005 and is the largest undeveloped natural gas discovery on the NCS. Linnorm is estimated to contain around 25-30 Bcm of recoverable gas resources. As a comparison, this is more gas than remaining reserves in each of the producing fields Aasta Hansteen, Martin Linge, and Gina Krog.

Equinor will continue to evaluate a tie-back for Linnorm to the Equinor- operated Kristin or Åsgard B installations.

6406/9-1 Linnorm is located 50 km northwest of the Draugen field. The water depth is around 300 m. The discovery was proven in 2005 and delineated in 2007.

The reservoir contains relatively dry gas with high CO2 content. It is a complex and challenging reservoir with high pressure and high temperature (HPHT). The reservoir is in the Ile, Tofte and Tilje Formations of Early to Middle Jurassic age, and has variable quality.

The partners in PL 255 are: A/S Norske Shell 30% (operator until the transaction is completed), Petoro 30%, Equinor Energy 20 %, TotalEnergies EP Norge AS 20%.

“Through this acquisition, Equinor will deepen our position in the Halten area, in line with our strategy to optimize our portfolio on the NCS. We know this area well, where we already have producing hubs and still see attractive opportunities,” says Kjetil Hove, executive vice president for Exploration and production Norway in Equinor.