Dvalin North

Dvalin North Gas Field Profile

Location

The Dvalin North gas field is located in the Norwegian Sea, specifically within production license 211. It is situated approximately 200km offshore from the northern part of Norway, at a water depth of about 420 meters. The field is 12km north of the existing Dvalin gas field and around 65km north of the Maria field, both of which are also operated by Wintershall Dea.

Ownership and Operator

• Operator: Wintershall Dea Norge AS holds a 55% stake and serves as the operator.
• Partners: Petoro AS owns 35%, and Sval Energi AS holds the remaining 10% stake.

Discovery and Exploration

• Discovery Year: The Dvalin North prospect was discovered in May 2021 through the 6507/4-2 S wildcat well drilled by the Deepsea Aberdeen semi-submersible rig.
• Exploration Details: The well discovered a gas column of 85m in the Garn formation. Further exploration revealed gas, condensate, and oil columns in the Cretaceous Lysing and Lange formations.

Reserves

• Estimated Reserves: The field is currently estimated to hold approximately 84 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe). Initial estimates ranged between 33 million and 70 million boe, which were later updated to include resources from deeper secondary targets, aggregating to 38 million to 87 million boe.

Development Plan

• Development Approach: The field will be developed as a subsea tieback to the Heidrun platform, which is operated by Equinor, via the existing Dvalin gas field.
• Infrastructure: Three production wells will be drilled through a single subsea system situated roughly 10km to the north of the Dvalin field. The subsea production system includes three horizontal subsea trees, a four-slot subsea template and manifold system, three wellhead systems, and related tie-ins, as well as 10km of static subsea umbilicals.

Production and Export

• Production Start: The field is expected to commence production in late 2026.
• Export Route: Gas produced will be transported through the Polarled pipeline to the Nyhamna processing plant near Kristiansund and then exported to the European market.

Contractors and Suppliers

• TechnipFMC: Awarded the contract to provide engineering, procurement, construction, and installation services for the subsea pipeline connecting the field to the Heidrun platform in January 2023.
• Aker Solutions: Contracted to supply the subsea production system, including subsea trees and control systems, and to perform installation work for the project in December 2022.
• Transocean: Awarded a contract for its Transocean Norge semi-submersible rig to drill 11 operated wells for Wintershall Dea, including three wells for the Dvalin North field, in September 2022.
• Odfjell Drilling: Contracted for the Deepsea Aberdeen drilling rig to drill the exploration wells at the field in September 2020.

Recent Milestones

• Template Installation: A four-slot subsea template was installed on the seabed in the first half of 2024, six months ahead of schedule. This template will accommodate three gas production wells, with one spare slot available for future development.

Strategic Importance

• The Dvalin North development supports Wintershall Dea's strategy of leveraging existing infrastructure and knowledge of the subsurface to quickly realize the value of exploration successes.
• The project is significant as it was the largest discovery on the Norwegian shelf in 2021 and will contribute to increasing gas exports to Europe.