Norway's parliament has approved state-controlled Equinor's ground-breaking Johan Castberg project in Arctic waters of the Barents Sea, which is due on stream in 2022, the company said Tuesday.
Following Monday's vote, final approval of the plan for development and operation, set to cost NOK 49 billion ($6.1 billion), by the ministry of petroleum and energy is seen as a formality.
Equinor, previously named Statoil, has vowed to press ahead with further exploration in the Barents Sea this year after a surge of interest early in the decade met with less success than expected.
It estimates the recoverable resources from Johan Castberg at 450 million-650 million barrels of oil equivalent, with production expected to last 30 years.
Equinor on Tuesday underlined its confidence in the project, which it had scaled down, postponing plans to build a new pipeline to shore and an oil terminal. Crude from Johan Castberg will instead be shipped directly to market from a Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel.
"It was a long road for Johan Castberg after the first discovery in 2011. Today we have a solid project that will be central in the further development of the northern regions," Equinor executive vice president for technology, projects and drilling Margareth Ovrum said in a statement.
The project breaks new technological frontiers, with most of the production facilities on the seabed.
With 30 wells distributed across 10 sub-sea templates and two satellite structures, "this is currently the largest subsea field under development globally," Equinor said.
Equinor also reiterated that the project would break even at $35 oil prices, and said it was considering possible coastal oil loading facilities, including both a "downscaled terminal solution and ship-to-ship transfer."
Equinor holds a 50% stake in Johan Castberg, with Italy's Eni on 30% and state holding company Petoro on 20%.
Eni is the operator of Norway's only producing oil field in the Barents Sea, Goliat.
