Norwegian energy major Equinor is forging ahead with its plans for the North-Sea-border-straddling Barnacle project.

Barnacle is in the northern part of the UK North Sea, but Equinor intends to develop the field as a subsea tie-back to the nearby Statfjord B platform in the Norwegian sector.

The field is thought to hold between 900,000 and 2.6 million barrels of oil.

The company said the project was “time critical” because Statfjord B is expected to stop producing in 2025.

Equinor has now submitted a letter of application to give the Oil and Gas Authority “preliminary notification” of its proposals.

It intends to drill a well on the field in August 2019, with first oil to follow in the fourth quarter of this year.

Equinor is the operator of Barnacle with a 44.3% stake. Its partners are ExxonMobil, with 21.4%, Spirit Energy, on 34.3%.