Statoil ASA (NYSE: STO) presented a plan for development and operation of the British-Norwegian Utgard natural gas, NGL and condensate field in the North Sea. The estimated investment in the Utgard Field is US$413.99 million, or an estimated 3.5 billion Norwegian crowns.

Norway's Oil Minister Tord Lien told Reuters he expects oil companies to submit additional plans by the end of 2016 for development and operations of other offshore fields.

Statoil says Utgard is scheduled to come onstream at the end of 2019; in the plateau phase, the field will produce about 44,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (Mboe/d). The recoverable reserves are estimated at 56.4 MMboe.

The field, which was previously known as Alfa Sentral, will be remote-controlled from the Sleipner A platform and will be developed as a subsea facility tied back to the Sleipner Field, where CO2 will be removed and stored in the ground.

About 60% of the resources are located on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, according to Statoil, which had previously estimated investments in the field to range between 4 billion Norwegian crowns and 4.5 billion Norwegian crowns.

"The project illustrates how measures to improve efficiency and productivity lead to new profitable field developments. The petroleum industry is, and will remain, Norway's most important industry for years to come," Tord Lien said in a separate statement

As the operator, Statoil holds 100% of the British part of the Utgard Field and 62% of the Norwegian license. Lotos holds 28% of the Norwegian license, while Total holds 10%. ($1 = 8.4543 Norwegian crowns)