Page 12 - EurOil Week 50 2022

EurOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES EurOil

Wintershall Dea files $805mn plan for

Norway’s largest gas find of 2021

NORWAY GERMANY’S Wintershall Dea and its partners added: “committing to a development only the
Petoro and Sval Energi have pledged to invest year after discovery is very rare, but shows our
Dvalin North is due on some NOK8bn ($804mn) in developing the determination to supply natural gas to Europe
stream in 2026. Dvalin North gas field in the Norwegian Sea, through a major investment in Norway.”
the companies and Norway’s energy ministry Norwegian producers are scrambling to
announced on December 13. submit plans for developing projects ahead of
The discovery in the Haltenbanken area was a deadline at the end of this year, when a tax
the largest discovery to be made on Norway’s incentive programme introduced at the height
continental shelf (NCS) last year, comprising of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is
some 84mn barrels of oil equivalent (boe), most due to expire. Operators are also motivated by
of which is natural gas. Wintershall Dea and its the soaring cost of gas in Europe. These prices
partners have filed a plan of development and are widely expected to remain historically high
operation for the project, with the German com- for some years to come.
pany noting that to greenlight a project so soon Wintershall Dea operates Dvalin North with
after its discovery was “very rare.” a 55% stake, while Petoro has 35% and Sval
Dvalin North will be developed as a tie-back Energi has 10%.
to the Heidrun platform via the existing Dvalin The main Dvalin field was meant to come on
field at the end of 2026. stream last year, but Wintershall has delayed its
“The project will make an important con- launch until 2023 after discovering that there
tribution to value creation and employment, was too much mercury in its gas. Mercury can
as well as providing much sought-after gas to corrode pipelines and equipment, and was found
Europe when the field comes into production,” in too high levels during production tests than
Norwegian Energy Minister Terje Aasland said during the exploratory phase at Dvalin a decade
in a statement. ago. Wintershall Dea is preparing a solution for
Wintershall Dea’s COO Dawn Summers removing the mercury. ™

OMV Petrom confirms start of

Neptun Deep’s development

ROMANIA OIL and gas company OMV Petrom on Decem- procedural steps, the final investment decision
ber 13 confirmed the submission of a declara- is estimated for mid-2023, and the first gas pro-
OMV Petrom estimates tion of commercial discovery to the mineral duction for the beginning of 2027,” it added.
the project investment resources agency NAMR in relation to the off- However, the state’s representative on the
at €4bn. shore field Neptun Deep, G4media.ro reported company’s board, Razvan Nicolescu, recently
quoting a company press release. told Ziarul Financiar daily that the investment
OMV Petrom also said that it estimates the decision is more of an internal decision of OMV
investments for reaching the production stage Petrom that has nothing to do with the invest-
at €4bn. ment calendar that is triggered by the declaration
“The declaration represents an intermediate of commercial discovery.
step in the process of making the final invest- As the main operator of Neptun Deep, under
ment decision and starting the development,” a 50:50 arrangement with Romgaz, OMV Petrom
the company explained. was bound to confirm the continuation of the
“In the context of the fulfilment of all project or drop it, by the end of this year. ™

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 50 16•December•2022