Nova 1st oil: Wintershall Dea increases production volumes in Norway

• Supporting Europe’s energy supply with additional volumes
• Wintershall Dea’s position as a leading subsea operator in Norway strengthened
• Production with very low carbon-intensity through platform electrification

Wintershall Dea has started production from the own-operated Nova oil field in the Norwegian North Sea together with the project partners Sval Energi and Pandion Energy Norge. It comes on stream at a time where Europe needs every additional barrel it can get. The completion of Nova emphasizes Wintershall Dea’s strength as one of the largest subsea operators on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

“With the start-up of the major project Nova, Wintershall Dea is now operating three subsea production fields in Norway. We are expanding our subsea technology expertise and meanwhile three further tieback-developments, including Dvalin, are in the planning. As a subsea operator we are committed to making the most of the infrastructure that Norway has spent decades developing, as well as maintaining a low-carbon intensity portfolio while producing the energy that Europe needs,” said Hugo Dijkgraaf, Wintershall Dea Member of the Executive Board and Chief Technology Officer.

ADDING VALUE FOR NORWAY WITH LOW-EMISSIONS SOLUTIONS

This new field is a prime example for energy deliveries using existing infrastructure in the area: Nova is a tieback to the nearby Gjøa platform, which is sustainably electrified with renewable power from shore. The Neptune Energy-operated host platform will provide gas lift and water injection to the field and receives the Nova hydrocarbons. The tieback solution further extends the economic lifetime and increases the profitability of the Gjøa field, in which Wintershall Dea has a 28% share.

Nova Project director André Hesse said: “This is a big moment for Wintershall Dea and everyone involved. Thanks to the hard work of our project team, our suppliers, license partners and the host operator, we could overcome challenges by a strong and consistent team effort. A big thank you to everyone who made this happen!”

STRENGTHENING LOW-CARBON SUBSEA PRODUCTION AND INCREASING EUROPE’S ENERGY SUPPLY SECURITY

With Nova, Wintershall Dea is increasing Europe’s energy supply in a time of need. When the Dvalin field and the partner-operated Njord Future-project, in which Wintershall Dea holds a 50% share, come on stream as currently planned later this year, Wintershall Dea will provide significant further gas and oil volumes to Europe. In addition, the company operates recent discoveries like Dvalin North, planned for PDO hand-in (Plan for Development and Operations) by the end of 2022, and several other discoveries which could be developed in the future. For instance, Wintershall Dea is a partner in the Aker BP-operated Storjo discovery in the Norwegian Sea.

“By exploring for and developing new fields near existing infrastructure, we are not only delivering new barrels, we are also potentially extending the lifetime of surrounding assets. This secures the possibility for future tie-ins, and returns value to the partnership, suppliers, and the Norwegian society” said Michael Zechner, Managing Director at Wintershall Dea Norge.

Wintershall Dea, Europe’s leading independent gas and oil company, has ambitions to be net zero across its entire upstream operations by 2030, both operated and non-operated. This includes Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (indirect) greenhouse gas emissions at equity share basis. As Gjøa is powered via hydropower from the Norwegian mainland, Nova will be a low carbon-intensity field and contribute to Wintershall Dea’s excellent emission reduction performance.

ABOUT NOVA

Nova is located in the Norwegian North Sea, about 120 kilometres northwest of Bergen and approximately 17 kilometres southwest of Gjøa. The water depth is roughly 370 metres. The Nova field consists of two subsea templates, one with three oil producers and one with three water injectors, tied back to the Gjøa platform.

The expected recoverable gross reserves from the field are estimated at 90 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe), of which the majority will be oil. This would be sufficient to cover Berlin’s oil demand for more than five years.¹

Oil from Nova will be transported via Gjøa through the Troll Oil Pipeline II to Mongstad in Norway, associated gas will be exported via the Far North Liquids and Associated Gas System (FLAGS) pipeline to St Fergus in the UK, supplying the European energy market.

Wintershall Dea is operator of the Nova field with a 45% share. Sval Energi also has a 45% share and Pandion Energy Norge owns 10%. Wintershall Dea has entered into an agreement to transfer a 6% share of the Nova field to OKEA. Completion is expected in Q4 2022 and Wintershall Dea’s share will then be lowered to 39%.

(1) Based on data from the Länderarbeitskreises Energiebilanzen