BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 5. The Eirin gas field has officially started production and is now exporting gas to Europe through the Gina Krog and Sleipner A platforms in the North Sea, with the subsea development completed in record time, Trend reports via Norway's Equinor company,
Located around 250 kilometres west of Stavanger in approximately 120 metres of water, the Eirin discovery—first made in 1978—was initially abandoned due to insufficient profitability. However, following shifts in Europe’s energy landscape after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the field was reassessed in 2023 and fast-tracked for development.
Expected recoverable resources from Eirin are estimated at around 27.6 million barrels of oil equivalent, primarily gas.
The project has been developed as a subsea installation featuring a two-slot template, tied back to the Gina Krog platform. The produced volumes are further processed at Sleipner A, a key hub for Norwegian gas exports to Europe. Gas is transported via the Gassled system, while liquids are sent to Kårstø for processing and export. The infrastructure allows for future phased expansions and potential tie-ins of additional nearby discoveries.
Total investment in the project is estimated at NOK 4.5 billion and is expected to extend the economic life of the Gina Krog platform from 2029 to 2036.
The licence partners include Equinor, which serves as operator with a 58.7% stake, and ORLEN Upstream Norway AS, holding 41.3%.
From project initiation in January 2023 to first production, the development took just three years. Equinor’s final investment decision was reached in only 4.5 months, underscoring the accelerated timeline enabled by existing North Sea infrastructure and subsea tie-back solutions.
