Equinor has announced the arrival of the floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) on the Johan Castberg field in the Barents Sea.

The FPSO, designed with storage capacity of 1.1 million barrels of oil, is now hooked up to the subsea facilities and is preparing for production start-up towards the end of the year, as Equinor said on Tuesday.

“This is an important milestone for Equinor and its partners Vår Energi and Petoro.Johan Castberg strengthens Norway’s role as a reliable, long-term energy supplier. The field will create great value for society, and long-term ripple effects and jobs. I would like to thank everyone who has contributed,” said Trond Bokn, Equinor’s senior VP for project management control.

Johan Castberg, located 100 kilometers northwest of the Snøhvit field, is a large oil field with estimated recoverable volumes of between 450 and 650 million barrels (mmbbls). It is estimated to produce at its peak about 220,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) for 30 years.

The field development includes 30 wells distributed across ten subsea templates and two satellites that will be tied back to the FPSO. Currently, 13 of these wells have been drilled, and drilling operations will continue into 2026, as Equinor said.

“Johan Castberg is important for our development plans in Northern Norway. When the field comes on stream, a new province will be opened for oil recovery in the Barents Sea. This provides new opportunities for the exploration for and development of new discoveries in the area,” said Grete Birgitte Haaland, Equinor’s senior VP for Northern Norway.

“Working with our partners we are already maturing five discoveries towards a possible tie-in to Johan Castberg,” Haaland added.

Notably, Equinor Energy AS holds 50% operating interest in the field. While Vår Energi ASA holds 30% interest and Petoro AS holds the remaining 20%.