OSLO (Reuters) -Equinor submitted on Friday a 4 billion Norwegian crowns ($374 million) plan to develop its Eirin gas discovery in the North Sea, Norway's oil and energy ministry said on Friday.
The Eirin discovery, estimated to hold about 27.6 million barrels of oil equivalent, will be developed via a subsea installation tied-back to Equinor's Gina Krog platform.
"Phasing in Eirin is an important part of extending the life of existing infrastructure and delivering more gas to Europe," Norway's Minister of Petroleum and Energy Terje Aasland said.
It's the first offshore field development submitted to Norwegian authorities this year after a flurry of new projects last year.
The field is expected to start production in 2025.
Gas from Eirin will be exported together with gas from the Gina Krog field via the Sleipner A platform.
"The development will extend Gina Krog's productive life from 2029 to 2036, and will be vital for the Sleipner area," said Camilla Salthe, Equinor's senior vice president for field life extension.
By extending operations of Gina Krog platform, Equinor and its partners could potentially tie back more smaller discoveries in the area, the company said.
Equinor operates the field and has a 78.2% stake, while Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (Kufpec) holds 21.8%.
Kuwait's overseas oil and gas division has launched a sale process for its Norwegian assets, Reuters reported in May, citing industry sources.
($1 = 10.7077 Norwegian crowns)