Norway’s energy major Equinor has extended key drilling and well services contracts worth a combined NOK 17 billion ($1.8 billion), reinforcing activity on the Norwegian continental shelf as the company targets production of around 1.2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day toward 2035 and seeks to safeguard stable energy supplies to Europe amid ongoing market uncertainty.
The company is exercising one?year extension options on three integrated drilling and well services contracts, alongside two?year options on 18 corporate framework agreements covering specialist well services. The extensions are expected to support high activity levels across both fixed installations and mobile rigs offshore Norway.
The integrated drilling and well services contracts are valued at NOK 8.3 billion ($893 million), while the framework agreements for specialist services are estimated at around NOK 4.3 billion ($463 million) per year over two years. Equinor awarded the integrated services contracts to Baker Hughes Norge, Halliburton, and SLB, which have also secured positions under the specialist services framework agreements alongside 15 additional suppliers.
“These agreements are among the largest we have, and they are crucial for activity on the Norwegian continental shelf,” said Jannicke Nilsson, Equinor’s chief procurement officer. “New wells enable us to maintain high production and deliver stable energy to Europe, which is particularly important during continued turbulence in global energy markets.”
The contracts are expected to support approximately 2,500 jobs and cover drilling and well operations across a broad portfolio of offshore assets and rigs.
As Norway’s offshore fields mature, Equinor is placing increasing emphasis on drilling new wells and carrying out well interventions to sustain output. The company has said that new wells are expected to account for around 70 percent of its production by 2035, requiring faster delivery, lower costs, and closer collaboration with suppliers.
“This means more wells and more well interventions, delivered significantly more cost?efficiently than today,” said Rune Nedregaard, Equinor’s senior vice president for Wells, pointing to increased use of technology, standardisation, and industry collaboration.
Norway’s liquids production remains high by historical standards, averaging just over 2 million barrels per day in recent years. Within that context, Equinor’s ambition to maintain production of around 1.2 million boepd toward 2035 would see the company continue to account for a dominant share of national output, despite the absence of new large discoveries.
A material decline in Norwegian liquids exports over the coming decade would likely increase Europe’s reliance on longer?haul supplies from OPEC producers, the United States, and other Atlantic Basin exporters, exposing the region to higher price volatility and greater geopolitical risk. Against that backdrop, sustained drilling activity on the Norwegian continental shelf remains central not only to Equinor’s long?term strategy, but also to Norway’s role as a stabilising supplier of liquid fuels to Europe.
By Jan-Thore Bergsagel for Oilprice.com