According to a March 27 report, Statoil ASA (NYSE: STO) submitted a plan to Norway's oil ministry on how to to extend the lifetime of the Njord oil and gas field in the Norwegian Sea, and also submitted a plan for development of the nearby Bauge oil and gas field.

Statoil said the combined capex for the fields totals NOK 19.8 billion (US$2.35 billion. Respectively, the Njord Field totals NOK 15.7 billion, and the Bauge Field totals NOK 4.1 billion.

Production startup for both projects is forecast to be in late 2020, the report said.

Statoil said the remaining resources on the Njord and Hyme fields (Njord is the host for Hyme) total 175 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe), and said it will produce at Njord for another 20 years.

Statoil said resources at Bauge, which will be phased in to the Njord A Platform, are estimated at 73 MMboe compared with a previous estimate of 63 MMboe.

Bauge development will be the first user of the Cap-X technology, which is a next-generation subsea production system.

Statoil's senior vice president for operations, Siri Espedal Kindem, said the Njord and Bauge projects are profitable at the current oil price, but declined to reveal the breakeven price level. But Kindem said the current Statoil portfolio is profitable with an oil price in the range of $30/bbl.

The company said the Njord and Bauge development projects bring new opportunities for the supply industry, which is important to the industry in central Norway.

Statoil said the work performed on the Njord A platform at Kværner Stord will facilitate the tieback of Bauge, as well as potential third-party tie-ins.

Norway's Minister of Oil and Energy Terje Soeviknes expects that 90% to 95% of subcontractors' deliveries to the Njord project will be made by Norwegian suppliers.

Njord extension and Bauge development plans were the first two plans for development and operation to be submitted to Norway's oil ministry in 2017.

Statoil's project manager Torger Roed said "we are working hard to make more decisions on new projects. Two of them are Johan Castberg and the Snorre expansion. There is still work to do on those projects, but we hope to make a decision in 2017."

Soeviknes said he expects, in total, up to 10 plans offshore Norway to be submitted in 2017.

Ownership at Njord after approval of the plan from the oil ministry (pending formal approval of recently announced changes) is as follows: Statoil (operator) with 20%; Engie E&P Norge AS with 20%; DEA Norge AS with 50%; Faroe Petroleum with 7.5%; and VNG Norge AS with 2.5%.

Ownership at Bauge after approval of the plan from the oil ministry (pending formal approval of recently announced changes) is as follows: Statoil (operator) with 35%; Engie E&P Norge AS with 10%; Point Resources AS with 17.5%; DEA Norge AS with 27.5% ; Faroe Petroleum Norge AS with 7.5%; and VNG Norge AS with 2.5%.

(US$1 = 8.4319 Norwegian crowns)