Drilling Starts at Dvalin Gas Field in Norwegian Sea

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Production drilling is underway at four production wells on the Dvalin gas field in the Norwegian Sea, a fortnight after the 3,500-tonne Dvalin module was lifted aboard the Heidrun platform.

Wintershall Dea said the drilling paves the way for first production from the field in 2020. Drilling of the production wells from the Transocean Arctic rig is expected to last approximately one year, the company said, after months of activity at the site. Since April there has been the installation of pipelines and the manifold at 400 metres water depth. In recent weeks, the 3,500-tonne processing module was lifted on to the nearby Heidrun platform in preparation for receiving gas. The field is located 259 kilometers (km) north of Kristiansund in mid-Norway and has recoverable resources of 113.3 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe). Industrial Info is tracking five projects related to the Dvalin field with a combined investment value of almost $500 million.

"Dvalin fits neatly into our strategy of supplying gas to the European market through fields and pipelines while ensuring we remain one of the most important gas producers on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. It further demonstrates our capabilities as an efficient and capable operator," said Alv Solheim, Managing Director of Wintershall Dea in Norway.

The Dvalin gas field is being developed with four subsea wells, tied back to the Equinor operated Heidrun host platform. The four wells will be drilled to a depth of about 4,500 metres. The gas from Dvalin will be transported to the Heidrun platform via a 15-km pipeline. From there, it will be sent to the new Polarled gas pipeline transportation system via a 7.5-km pipeline, before it will be further processed to dry gas at the Nyhamna onshore gas terminal.

The Polarled pipeline, which entered operation last December, is the first offshore pipeline to cross the Arctic Circle. It runs for 482 km and carries output from the Aasta Hansteen field in the Norwegian Sea to the Nyhamna plant in western Norway, where the rich gas gets processed before dry gas is sent on to the U.K. and continental Europe through Norway's integrated transport system. It is operated by Gassco, operator of the Norwegian gas transport system.

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