North Sea Reporter

Published by KL ENERGY PUBLISHING LTD.

North Sea Reporter is an established and respected weekly publication which provides

in-depth news and analysis of the NW European offshore oil and gas industry. 

Environment

Norway and Belgium have signed a bilateral agreement intended to support the creation of infrastructure to allow pipeline transport of carbon dioxide from Belgium to the Norwegian Shelf for storage. The Norwegian ministry of energy said that the agreement reflects both countries’ long-term commitment to carbon capture and storage as part of Europe’s climate efforts. “This agreement strengthens the foundation for a European CO₂ value chain. By co-ordinating our efforts, the agreement marks an important milestone in the two countries’ long-standing energy co-operation and provides predictability for future CCS developments,” said Norwegian Minister of Energy Terje Aasland. The ministry said the bilateral agreement comes amid an initiative led by Equinor and Fluxys of Belgium to develop carbon dioxide transport infrastructure running from Belgium to a storage location on the NCS. The initiative also includes plans for a land-based terminal in Belgium to receive carbon dioxide from industrial sources in Europe.

Production

Ithaca Energy has ceased production from the FPF-1 platform in block 30/6a in the Greater Stella area of the UK Central North Sea. The UK-listed operator confirmed that the facility reached cessation of production at 15.08 hours on 27 March. The FPF-1, the origins of which date back to the 1970s, produced first oil from the Stella field in February 2017 and has been operating for Ithaca for the nine years since then. The operator, in its 2025 financial results report published on 18 March, said it is targeting sailaway of the FPF-1from its field location to a decommissioning yard this summer to be followed by a multi-year campaign covering the plug and abandonment of 10 subsea wells and the removal of five drill centres as well as subsea infrastructure. Ithaca chief financial officer Ian Lewis noted that investment in the asset had been curtailed by the impact of the energy profits levy, which he said was one of the reasons why it was set to reach cessation of production at this time. Ithaca is also set to cease production from its ultra-late life Alba field.

Renewables

RWE has been given the go-ahead by the German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency for Nordseecluster B, the second phase of the Nordseecluster project, in the German North Sea, which will have a total capacity of 1.6 GW. Nordseecluster A, with a capacity of 660 MW, is already under construction, with full commissioning scheduled for early-2027. All the foundations have already been installed and work on setting up the 44 wind turbines is due to begin this summer. Nordseecluster B will add a further 900 MW of capacity from early-2029. Production of some components has already begun and offshore construction work is expected to begin next year with installation of the foundations, followed by installation of the 60 turbines in 2028 and commercial operations beginning in early-2029. The Nordseecluster is being built 46 km north of the German island of Borkum and 50 km north of the German island of Juist. Together, the wind farms will generate around 6.5 terawatt hours of electricity annually.

Weekly coverage includes:

  • Rig Market - contracts, dayrates and utilisation
  • Drilling – a round-up of North Sea activity 
  • Construction and engineering
  • Field development and production
  • Contract awards
  • Company news
  • Data tables of industry activity
  • Mediterranean & W. Africa briefing
  • News briefs