Wintershall Dea, Europe’s leading independent gas and oil company, has made a significant gas, condensate and oil discovery at the Dvalin North prospect in the Haltenbanken area of the Norwegian Sea.

The Dvalin North discovery, estimated to hold between 33-70 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe), is just 12 kilometres north of the company’s operated Dvalin field, and 65 kilometres north of the operated Maria field. The well also encountered hydrocarbons in two shallower secondary targets, with a combined resource estimate of 38-87 million boe.

“The discovery is in an area with existing operated as well as non-operated infrastructure. This important find supports our strategy of primarily investing in infrastructure-led exploration activity which will yield synergies with existing fields,” said Hugo Dijkgraaf, Wintershall Dea Chief Technology Officer and responsible Executive Board member for global exploration. “Norway is one of our core areas for growth. We will continue to explore and develop fields to support our growth strategy on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.”

The well, drilled by the Deepsea Aberdeen rig, encountered gas, condensate and oil columns of 33 metres and 114 metres respectively in the Cretaceous Lysing and Lange Formations. In the primary target in the Garn Formation, the well found a gas column of 85 metres. The licence partners will now evaluate development options for the discovery, which could include a tie back to the Wintershall Dea operated Dvalin field.

Dvalin North is the first well of a two well exploration and appraisal program for Wintershall Dea in the Haltenbanken area. The Deepsea Aberdeen rig now moves on to appraise the nearby Bergknapp discovery, which was made in 2020.

“With Maria, Dvalin and now this discovery in Dvalin North, the Haltenbanken area has emerged as a strategic core area for Wintershall Dea in Norway. The next step will be to turn these discoveries into producing fields. This find secures our position in the area and promises to support more activity in the years to come,” said Alv Solheim, Managing Director of Wintershall Dea Norge.

Wintershall Dea is the operator of the Dvalin North discovery in PL 211 with a 55% share. Licence partners are Petoro and Sval Energi.

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.

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.