Wintershall Dea finds gas at Norwegian oil find

German operator Wintershall Dea has proved a gas accumulation at its Bergknapp oil discovery in the Norwegian Sea, the company reported on September 6.

Wintershall Dea drilled appraisal and re-entry wells at the 2020 Bergknapp find, confirming oil discoveries in the Garn and Tilje formations and proving the gas accumulation in the Are formation. It estimates the size of the oil discoveries at between 40mn and 84mn barrels of oil equivalent (boe) and the gas find at 13-56mn boe.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said separately that it was a 260-m gas column that was encountered in the Are formation, with sandstone layers of 82 m but poor reservoir quality.

"We are excited that we have made another discovery in the Haltenbanken area in the Norwegian Sea," Wintershall Dea's CTO Hugo Dijkgraaf said. "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."

Back in May Wintershall Dea made the Dvalin North gas discovery in the Haltenbanken area, estimating its size at between 33mn and 70mn boe. While Dvalin North is just 12 km north of Wintershall Dea's Dvalin gas field, Bergknapp is situated only 8 km west of its Maria oilfield.

Wintershall Dea operates production licence 836S containing Bergknapp with a 40% share, while partners Spirit Energy and DNO Norge each have 30%.

Read the latest issue of the OGV Energy magazine HERE.