Dvalin North Plan Calls for 780 Million Euro Investment

Wintershall Dea has submitted its Dvalin North gas field plan for development and operation (PDO) to the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.

“Committing to a development only the year after discovery is very rare but shows our determination to supply natural gas to Europe through a major investment in Norway,” Wintershall Dea COO Dawn Summers said.

The field – the largest Norwegian discovery in 2021 – is on the Norwegian Continental Shelf in 420 m water depth and holds an estimated 84 MMboe. Gas will be exported via the Polarled pipeline to Nyhamna near Kristiansund in midland Norway.

Dvalin North production will tie back to the Equinor-operated Heidrun platform in the Norwegian Sea.

“We are a firm believer in using smart, subsea engineering to supply the European market with vital fuel,” Wintershall Dea Norge MD Michael Zechner said.

The Dvalin North partners will commit approximately $780 million Euro (8 billion NOK) to develop the discovery, drilling three producing wells from a single subsea template located 10 km to the north of the existing Dvalin field. Dvalin is forecast to come into production in the coming months. Dvalin North is scheduled for planned start-up late 2026.

In announcing the discovery in May 2021, Wintershall Dea estimated that Dvalin North, 12 km north of the company’s operated Dvalin field, held between 33 MMboe and 70 MMboe. The well also encountered hydrocarbons in two shallower secondary targets, with a combined resource estimate of 38 MMboe-87 MMboe.

At the time, Wintershall Dea chief technology officer Hugo Dijkgraaf noted the discovery’s location near existing operated and non-operated infrastructure.

“This important find supports our strategy of primarily investing in infrastructure-led exploration activity which will yield synergies with existing fields,” Dijkgraaf said.

The Deepsea Aberdeen drilled the well in PL 211.

Wintershall Dea operates the Dvalin North discovery in PL 211 with a 55% share on behalf of license partners Petoro and Sval Energi.