Plans for the development and operation of two oil fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf have been approved.

Statoil’s Njord A platform and the Njord Bravo floating storage and offloading vessel will be upgraded and put back into operation to recover the remaining resources in the Njord and Hyme fields.

These resources are estimated at 175 million barrels of oil equivalent.

The Njord field produced its first oil in 1997 and is now expected to continue for another 20 years, with 10 new production wells being planned.

The Bauge development is a new field and will be tied in to the Njord A platform. It’s expected to produce 73 million barrels of oil equivalent.

First oil is scheduled for the end of 2020.

Torger Rød, Statoil’s Head of Project Development, said: “We are pleased that the authorities have now approved the plans for Njord and Bauge, two important fields on the Norwegian continental shelf.

“The investments, totalling NOK20 billion (£1.8bn), will trigger high activities and spin-offs for the Norwegian society and Norwegian supply industry.”