By Dominic Chopping

Equinor said Wednesday that the Johan Sverdrup field on the Norwegian continental shelf is increasing its daily production capacity, and is expected to reach around 500,000 barrels of oil per day by the end of the year, from 470,000 currently.

The giant Johan Sverdrup field came on stream in October last year and was expected to have an output capacity of 440,000 barrels a day. The field has already produced oil worth more than 50 billion Norwegian kroner ($5.52 billion).

Phase 2 of the field development is on schedule, and production start is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2022, it said.

The increase means that the Johan Sverdrup full-field plateau production capacity is expected to rise to around 720,000 barrels of oil per day, from 690,000 previously.

"Based on the positive results of the capacity test where we produced at rates of over 500,000 barrels of oil per day, we are now working on solutions to increase the water injection capacity which should allow us to further increase daily production capacity beyond this level by mid-2021," said Rune Nedregaard, vice president for Johan Sverdrup operations.

Equinor is operator of the field with a 42.6% interest. Lundin Energy Norway holds a 20% stake in the field, with Petoro holds 17.36%, Aker BP ASA holds 11.5733% and Total SE holds 8.44%.

Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-18-20 0446ET