The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (MPE) has today approved the development plans for Symra and Solveig Phase 2, which are both located in the Utsirahøyden area in the North Sea. The two developments are carried out as a joint project. 

Aker BP ASA (operator) and licensees Equinor Energy AS and Sval Energi AS submitted the PDO for Symra to the Ministry in December last year. The Symra field will be a tie-in to the Ivar Aasen production platform. Production start is planned for the first quarter of 2027. 

Development of Solveig Phase 2 is an extension of the PDO for the first development phase of Solveig and will be connected via existing infrastructure at Solveig to the Edvard Grieg platform. Production start for Solveig phase 2 is planned for the first quarter of 2026. Aker BP ASA is the operator for Solveig, with OMV Norge AS and Wintershall Dea AS as license partners. 

“The production from Symra and Solveig phase 2 will contribute valuable production for the licensees and society at large. The fact that we can utilize existing process capacity at Ivar Aasen and Edvard Grieg helps to make the developments economically robust”, said Stine Kongshaug McIntosh, VP Projects Execution for Edvard Grieg and Ivar Aasen in Aker BP. 

The two developments comprise a total of 93 million barrels of oil equivalent in estimated recoverable resources. The drilling operations will commence in the third quarter of 2025. The total investments are estimated at NOK 16 billion in real terms. 

Utsira High

The Utsira High Project is a bundle of two separate subsea tie-in projects in the central part of the North Sea. Symra will be a tie-in to the Ivar Aasen platform, while Solveig phase 2 will be connected to the Edvard Grieg platform.

The Utsira High Project develops recoverable resources of 93 million barrels of oil equivalent. Drilling will commence in third quarter 2025, while production start-up is scheduled for first quarter 2026 for Solveig and first quarter 2027 for Symra.

The total investments are estimated to approximately NOK 16 billion in real terms.

Aker BP is the operator for all three developments. Partners are Equinor, OMV, Sval Energi and Wintershall Dea. (See below for details on partnership for the three separate production licenses). Both projects are covered by the temporary tax regime adopted by the Parliament (Stortinget) in 2020.

The Utsira High Project adds valuable production to our portfolio as we already have processing capacity and export facilities in the area with Edvard Grieg and Ivar Aasen. Further we provide new infrastructure in the North-Eastern part of the Grieg/Aasen asset area opening possibilities for further developments in the vicinity.

All producing fields on the Utsira High will be operated with electrical power from shore. Hence the CO2 emissions from the production phase will be very low.

Edvard Grieg was designed and built as a field centre with the capacity to be a host platform for new fields in the vicinity. Edvard Grieg is also the host platform for the Solveig field (phase 1). The Ivar Aasen field was a coordinated development with the Edvard Grieg field. Oil and gas from Ivar Aasen are transported to the Edvard Grieg platform for final processing.

KeyFacts Energy Industry Directory: Aker bp Norway country profile