The giant Johan Sverdrup field in Norway is increasing its daily production capacity to half a million barrels of oil per day by the end of the year.

It follows Equinor and its partners testing the plant capacity this month to verify a possible production rise, with the increase around 60,000 barrels more than the original basis when the field came on stream over a year ago.

By the end of 2020, production capacity will increase from 470,000 currently to around 500,000 barrels of oil per day.

The Johan Sverdrup field is powered from shore with very low CO2 emissions per barrel, with emissions during the field life estimated to be less than 0.7kg CO2 per produced barrel.

The second phase of the field development is on schedule and production start is expected in the fourth quarter of 2022.

The increase in capacity means the full-field plateau production is expected to increase from 690,000 to around 720,000 barrels of oil per day.

Jez Averty, Senior Vice President for operations south in Development and Production Norway at Equinor said: “For the second time since the start-up the plant is able to increase its daily capacity.

“As Johan Sverdrup is a field with high profitability and low CO2 emissions, a production rise is great news. The field has low operating costs, providing revenue for the companies and Norwegian society, even in periods with low prices.”