Norwegian oil and gas giant Equinor has installed the first of four Martin Linge modules offshore Norway.

Equinor informed through its social media channels on Wednesday that the first Martin Linge module was installed at the field in the North Sea.

The utility module, weighing close to 10 000 tonnes, was lifted into place by the Heerema Marine Contractors-owned semi-submersible heavy lift crane vessel Thialf.

Three more modules will follow over the next days, Equinor said.

Martin Linge is an oil and gas field under development west of the Oseberg field in the North Sea, with estimated recoverable resources in excess of 300 million barrels oil equivalent. The expected production lifetime extends into the 2030s.

Equinor agreed with Total to take over operatorship of the Martin Linge field in November 2017. The transaction was completed last March.

Martin Linge is being developed with a manned wellhead platform – Martin Linge A – and a floating, storage and offloading unit (FSO) for oil storage, Martin Linge B. A mobile jack-up rig is utilized for the drilling of production wells. The installation will be supplied with power from shore.

The jacket substructure is already installed on location in the North Sea. Following completion at the Samsung yard in South-Korea, the topside reached Norway in late March. Equinor has also recently received consent from the Petroleum Safety Authority to use the Martin Linge B unit as storage vessel on the Martin Linge field.

Production start-up is expected in the first half 2019.