Wintershall Dea makes discovery in Cuvette exploration well
Gas condensate discovery near Vega field in the Northern North Sea
Wintershall Dea, a leading independent European gas and oil company, says that together with its partners, Petoro and DNO, it has made a gas condensate discovery at the Cuvette prospect in the Northern North Sea. The Cuvette discovery lies just south of the Wintershall Dea operated Vega Central field. The licence partners will now evaluate if the gas condensate discovery can be fast tracked into production utilising existing infrastructure in the Vega / Gjøa area.
“Our strategy is to identify new volumes close to infrastructure that can be quickly developed into new fields. Our goal will now be to establish the commerciality for this new discovery by evaluating development options,” said Roy Davies, Vice President Exploration & Subsurface at Wintershall Dea Norge.
The Cuvette exploration well encountered gas condensate in sandstones of Middle and Upper Jurassic age, with estimated recoverable volumes of 9 – 22 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) in the primary Middle Jurassic target and 7 – 16 mmboe in the shallower Upper Jurassic target.
Wintershall Dea is one of the key operators in this area of the Northern North Sea with the Vega and Nova subsea fields, as well as several operated exploration licences. The company is also a major shareholder in the nearby Gjøa platform which is the export hub for the surrounding fields in this area.
“Both Gjøa and Vega are in a mature production phase, meaning there is spare capacity that can be utlilised for developing additional discoveries in the coming years. We will continue to explore for hydrocarbons in the area to use this capacity,” said Ronny Hanssen, Vice President Production & Operations for Wintershall Dea Norge.
Cuvette is the latest Wintershall Dea operated well to be drilled with the Transocean Norge rig in a period of high activity by the company. The rig has already drilled development wells in the Maria field in the Norwegian Sea, successfully appraised the Bergknapp and Adriana discoveries and drilled production wells on the Nova field in the North Sea. During the rest of 2024 and 2025 it is scheduled to complete the Maria Phase 2 wells and in 2026 to commence the drilling of the Dvalin North development wells.
About Wintershall Dea
Wintershall Dea is a leading independent European 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 11 countries worldwide in an efficient and responsible manner. With activities in Europe, 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. And we develop carbon management and low carbon hydrogen projects to contribute to climate goals and secure energy supplies.