Wintershall Dea, Europe’s leading independent gas and oil company, has completed the drilling of an appraisal well on the Bergknapp oil discovery in the Norwegian Sea.

Drilled from the Deepsea Aberdeen semi-submersible rig, the re-entry and appraisal wells confirmed the oil discoveries in the Garn and Tilje Formations and proved an additional gas accumulation in the Åre Formation. Following the completion of the appraisal well, the size of the Garn and Tilje Formation discoveries is estimated to be between 40 and 84 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent, whereas the Åre Formation is estimated to hold an additional 13 million to 56 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent.

The Bergknapp discovery is located 200 kilometres north of Kristiansund and 8 kilometres west of the Wintershall Dea operated Maria oil field in an area close to existing infrastructure. The licence consortium will now evaluate potential development options.

“We are excited that we have made another discovery in the Haltenbanken area in the Norwegian Sea. We will now work closely with our partners to bring the project to the final investment decision and successfully drive the development of the prospect,” said Hugo Dijkgraaf, Wintershall Dea Chief Technology Officer and responsible board member for Exploration. “The recoverable reserves add up to our growth strategy in the country and enhance our position as a committed partner to Norway”, he added.

The Bergknapp appraisal well is the second operated exploration well for Wintershall Dea in Norway in 2021, following the nearby Dvalin North discovery in PL 211 made in May 2021. “Bergknapp is an important discovery that contributes to our strong position in this area of the Norwegian Shelf. With Maria and the nearby Dvalin field, we already have an established position as a major operator in the Haltenbanken area,” said Alv Solheim, Managing Director of Wintershall Dea Norge. “Bergknapp and Dvalin North will further strengthen this position”, Solheim added.

The Deepsea Aberdeen rig will now move to the Wintershall Dea operated Vega field in the North Sea.

Wintershall Dea is the operator of the PL 836S Bergknapp license with a 40% share. Partners Spirit Energy and DNO Norge hold 30% each.

About Wintershall Dea

Wintershall Dea is Europe’s leading independent natural gas and oil company with more than 120 years of experience as an operator and project partner along the entire E&P value chain. The company with German roots and headquarters in Kassel and Hamburg explores for and produces gas and oil in 13 countries worldwide in an efficient and responsible manner. With activities in Europe, Russia, Latin America, and the MENA region (Middle East & North Africa), Wintershall Dea has a global upstream portfolio and, with its participation in natural gas transport, is also active in the midstream business. More in our Annual Report.

As a European gas and oil company, we support the EU's 2050 carbon neutrality target. As our contribution we have set ourselves ambitious targets: We want to be net zero across our entire upstream operations – both operated and non-operated – by 2030. This includes Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (indirect) greenhouse gas emissions on an equity share basis. In addition, Wintershall Dea will bring methane emissions intensity below 0.1 per cent by 2025 and maintain zero routine flaring of associated gas in its operations. The climate goals are to be achieved through portfolio optimization, emissions reduction through more energy efficiency, investments in nature-based compensation solutions and in future technologies such as hydrogen and CCS. You can find more about this in our Sustainability Report.

Wintershall Dea was formed from the merger of Wintershall Holding GmbH and DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG, in 2019. Today, the company employs around 2,500 people worldwide from over 60 nations.