TechnipFMC's Subsea Production System for Equinor's Irpa Project

Oilfield services firm TechnipFMC said Thursday it had won a "significant" contract from Equinor to deliver subsea production systems for the Irpa oil and gas project in the Norwegian Sea.

For TechnipFMC, a “significant” contract is between $75 million and $250 million.

The contract covers the supply and installation support of subsea trees, control systems, structures, and connections, as well as tooling.

Jonathan Landes, President of Subsea at TechnipFMC, commented: “This project will utilize our standardized production system, which was designed to meet the specific demands of the Norwegian Continental Shelf."

Equinor submitted a plan for development and operation (PDO) for the Irpa offshore gas discovery, formerly known as Asterix, to the Norwegian Minister for Petroleum and Energy in November 2022.

The Irpa gas discovery, sitting in the Norwegian Sea at a depth of 1350 meters, is located 340 kilometers west of Bodø. 

The gas from the field will be phased into the existing Aasta Hansteen platform and transported to the Nyhamna gas processing plant through the Polarled pipeline. 

From there, Equinor's customers in the UK and continental Europe will get gas through the Langeled pipeline system. Irpa will extend the life of Aasta Hansteen by seven years, from 2032 to 2039. Aasta Hansteen came on stream in December 2018.

Equinor says that Irpa's expected recoverable gas resources are around 20 billion standard cubic meters, which is the same as 124 million barrels of oil equivalent (b.o.e.) or the amount of gas that nearly 2.4 million British homes would use in seven years.