BG Group kicks off production at Knarr field in North Sea

Oil and gas outfit BG Group has announced first oil from its part-owned Knarr field in the North Sea offshore Norway.

Knarr, operated and 45%-owned by the FTSE 100 group, is estimated to contain around 80m barrels of oil equivalent (boe) and have a production life of at least 10 years.

The Petrojarl Knarr floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, moored 120km off the Norwegian coast, has a production capacity of 63,000boe per day and a storage capacity of 800,000boe.

Knarr, first discovered in 2008, was merged with the Knarr West field in 2011 into an integrated development. "New exploration drilling in the licence area is ongoing, in order to help extend the production life further," BG said.

Idemitsu Petroleum Norge holds a 25% interest in Knarr, Wintershall Norge owns 20% and DEA Norge AS has the remaining 10%.