Equinor is eyeing three newbuild floater concepts for its challenging 440-million barrel Wisting project in the Arctic waters of Norway's Barents Sea, and is on the cusp of deciding its favoured option.

Upstream was told by two sources familiar with the development that Equinor is weighing up the pros and cons of a pair of ship-shaped solutions proposed by Saltship and Aker Solutions, and also a cylindrical hull option from Sevan.

Leirvik-based Saltship's solution is said to be based on the hull the company designed for Equinor's Bay du Nord project off Newfoundland, Canada.