OneSubsea has secured a Nkr700 million ($82.4 million) contract with Equinor to deliver a boosting station for the Vigdis field off Norway as part of a Nkr1.4 billion enhanced recovery project to tap more barrels at the subsea field.

The Schlumberger-owned contractor will provide the multiphase boosting system, including subsea template and trawling protection, under the deal with engineering set to start this month followed by subsequent fabrication at its facilities near Bergen on Norway’s west coast.

State-controlled operator Equinor aims to boost oil output by 11 million barrels from Vigdis, which has been producing as a subsea tie-back to the Snorre field in the North Sea for the past 20 years.

The project will also entail modifications to the Snorre A platform, which receives oil from the Vigdis field, and Snorre B to supply the boosting station with power via a new umbilical.

The boosting station will be connected to a subsea pipeline to enhance the capacity between Vigdis and Snorre A, pushing the well stream from the subsea field up to the platform. This means wellhead pressure can also be reduced, which further increases well productivity.

“This adds new oil barrels at a highly competitive price,” Equinor’s senior vice president for project management control, Torger Rod, said.

Equinor aims to bring online the boosting station in 2021, with a contract award pending for modifications to the Snorre facilities and marine work to be carried out under existing framework deals.

OneSubsea, which will build the unit at its Horsoy plant, will use several local sub-contractors including Framo Flatoy to fabricate the pump and Luster Mekaniske Industri for piping, with more contracts to be awarded in the near future and around 500 workers estimated to be involved in the delivery.

The Vigdis field, located in the Tampen area of the North Sea, was estimated to hold 200 million barrels in recoverable oil resources when it was brought on stream in 1997 but has already produced 394 million barrels, with the resource figure now bumped up to 455 million barrels.

Equinor holds a 41.5% operating stake in production licence 089 that hosts the field, with partners Petoro (30%), ExxonMobil (16.1%), Idemitsu Petroleum (9.6%) and Dea (2.8%).