Equinor Awards Aibel Wisting FPSO Topsides FEED as Late-2027 FID Nears

Equinor Energy AS has handed Aibel a front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract covering the topside modules for the proposed Wisting FPSO, with work starting immediately and running to late 2027 — the same window in which the license partners plan to take their investment decision.

The award, confirmed by Equinor, includes FEED work plus further maturation of the topsides design for the floating production, storage and offloading vessel. It also carries an option for engineering, procurement and project management — EPma — services. A fabrication contract for the modules would come later, Equinor said.

What does the contract actually cover?

Two things, in effect. First, the engineering homework: Aibel will mature the topsides design well enough that the Wisting partners can base a project execution decision on it. Second, a foothold for more: the EPma option gives Equinor a path to keep Aibel on through procurement and project management if the development proceeds.

Fabrication of the topside modules sits outside this award. That work would go out to tender only after — and if — the partners commit to the project.

The timeline is tight but not rushed. The FEED study runs to late 2027, and Equinor and its partners aim to decide on concept selection and the project's further progression by yearend 2026. The planned investment decision follows in late 2027, using the FEED results as part of its basis.

The takeaway: this is sanctioned engineering money, not yet sanctioned development money — the real commitment comes in late 2027.

Why Wisting matters

Discovered in 2013 in the Hoop area of the Barents Sea, about 310 km north of Hammerfest, Wisting is the largest oil discovery on the Norwegian continental shelf still awaiting development. Estimated recoverable resources sit at just under 500 MMboe.

Water depths across the development area run 390-418 m — territory where an FPSO makes operational sense, and the partnership has already selected that concept for a potential development.

Regulatory groundwork is moving in parallel. In July, Equinor submitted for public consultation a proposed program for the environmental impact assessment for a potential field development.

Who holds what

Equinor operates Wisting with a 42.5% interest. The partner lineup:

• Aker BP ASA — 27.5%
• Petoro AS — 20%
• INPEX Idemitsu Norge AS — 10%

A cautious operator's framing

Equinor is keeping expectations measured. "We are at an early stage in the development of Wisting, and considerable work remains to develop a project that is profitable and feasible," said Trond Bokn, Equinor's senior vice-president for project development.

That framing matters for a field with Wisting's history. The discovery has spent more than a decade in appraisal and concept work, and the partners have tied progress to cost discipline rather than calendar pressure. The FEED award signals momentum, but Bokn's comment makes clear the economics still have to close.

The one-sentence version: Equinor is spending real money on engineering while explicitly reserving the right to walk away if the numbers don't work.

What to watch

Three dates now structure the story. The concept-selection and progression decision lands by yearend 2026. The FEED study and the investment decision both converge in late 2027. In between, the environmental impact assessment program works through public consultation — the permit process that any Barents Sea development must clear.

Watch the yearend 2026 checkpoint first. If the partners confirm the FPSO concept and push forward, Aibel's EPma option becomes live, and fabrication tenders for the topsides enter the frame. If they hesitate, Wisting's decade-long wait gets longer.