The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has granted ExxonMobil consent to start-up a subsea facility for production well 25/11-E-29 AH on the Balder field, offshore Norway.

ExxonMobil is the operator and sole licensee in production licence 001, in the central part of the North Sea, where the Balder oil field is located. The field, approximately 190 km northwest of Stavanger, has been producing since 1999.

The Balder field was developed with subsea wells that are connected to a production and storage vessel, Balder FPSO. The oil is transported by tanker.

In 2015 the Balder FPSO processed 48,000 barrels of oil per day; 33,000 barrels from the Balder field and 15,000 barrels from the Ringhorne field.

ExxonMobil recently also received a consent from the offshore safety watchdog in Norway, the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA), to use a new subsea well on the field.