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Ormen Lange field

Ormen Lange is producing 153,002 barrels of oil equivalent a day — 3.6% of everything the Norwegian Continental Shelf produced in May 2026, ranking 4 of the 94 fields in production.

Production
153,002 boe/d
Share of NCS
3.6%
Operator
A/S Norske Shell
First oil
2007

What it produces

In May 2026 the field delivered 153,002 barrels of oil equivalent a day, classified by the directorate as gas — almost entirely gas. Output has moved up 27.6% over the past twelve months, and the directorate's profile for the field is growing. The field's best year was 2012, averaging 411,374 boe/d — today it runs at 37% of that.

Since 2007, Ormen Lange has produced roughly 1,855 million barrels of oil equivalent in total. The directorate's estimate of recoverable resources is 2,208 million boe, of which about 84% has now been recovered; 376 million boe remained as of 31.12.2025.

The story of Ormen Lange

Ormen Lange, Norway’s second-largest gas field, lies inside the scar of the Storegga slide — the vast prehistoric submarine landslide — in up to a kilometre of water. Like Snøhvit it has no surface installations: everything stands on the seabed, flowing to the Nyhamna plant, and from there through Langeled to Britain.

Timeline

  1. 1997
    Proven by exploration well 6305/5-1
  2. 2007
    On stream, subsea to Nyhamna
  3. 2012
    Best year to date — 411,374 boe/d

Production by year, 2007–2026

2012 · 411,37420072026
GasNGL/condensateboe/d
Full table, year by year
YearGasCondensateTotal boe/d
200728,7872,31831,105
2008196,55516,627213,183
2009358,12828,362386,490
2010359,31526,356385,672
2011374,62728,507403,134
2012381,58129,793411,374
2013369,65626,269395,925
2014348,27123,502371,772
2015289,36618,385307,751
2016296,51918,144314,663
2017279,79815,853295,651
2018270,11714,336284,453
2019217,76311,372229,134
2020204,70510,263214,968
2021193,0869,197202,283
2022164,7407,592172,331
2023115,4475,202120,649
2024130,7495,815136,564
2025132,6376,582139,220
2026142,8886,153149,040

Average daily rates per calendar year, from Sokkeldirektoratet's monthly production figures. The final year is the average through May 2026.

Discovery and drilling

The field was proven by exploration well 6305/5-1 in 1997. The directorate's wellbore register lists 41 wellbores on Ormen Lange: 7 exploration and 34 development. The deepest reaches 5,337 metres measured depth. Water depth at the field's installations is 850 to 925 metres.

How it reaches market

Ormen Lange's production leaves the field by pipeline:

  • Ormen Lange Pl-Agas → Nyhamna
  • Ormen Lange Pl-Bgas → Nyhamna

The field has run on power from shore — fed from Nyhamna since 2007 — rather than on gas turbines offshore.

Installations on Ormen Lange

    The field also has 4 subsea structures — wellheads and templates on the seabed — which are drawn individually on the map.

    Licence partners

    • Petoro AS36.49%
    • Equinor Energy AS25.35%
    • A/S Norske Shell17.81%
    • ORLEN Upstream Norway AS14.02%
    • Vår Energi ASA6.34%

    The field sits in blocks 6305/4, 6305/5, 6305/7, 6305/8, under production licences PL 209, PL 208, PL 250.

    Questions people ask

    Who operates the Ormen Lange field?
    Ormen Lange is operated by A/S Norske Shell, in partnership with Petoro AS, Equinor Energy AS, ORLEN Upstream Norway AS and others.
    How much does Ormen Lange produce?
    153,002 barrels of oil equivalent per day as of May 2026 — 3.6% of Norwegian Continental Shelf output, ranking 4 of 94 producing fields.
    When did Ormen Lange start producing?
    First production was reported in 2007, 10 years after discovery well 6305/5-1 proved the field in 1997.

    See it live

    Ormen Lange is drawn on the NCS Live map with its outline, its pipelines and the vessels working it in real time — and på norsk. The directorate's own record is on the SODIR FactPages.

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