Wintershall brings on stream Norway's Dvalin field
Germany's Wintershall Dea has brought on-stream the Dvalin field off Norway, after having to delay its commercial launch in early 2021 when high levels of mercury were found in its gas flow.
The field, tied to Equinor's Heidrun platform in the central Norwegian Sea, contains an estimated 18bn m3 of recoverable gas. But operator Wintershall postponed its launch in January 2021 when its gas was found to contain much higher levels of mercury during production tests than during exploratory work. Mercury can corrode pipelines and equipment and is toxic when inhaled.
Wintershall has since installed mercury removal units at onshore processing facilities at Nyhamna and Tjeldbergodden, the company said on August 23. The field will provide significant gas supply to the European market – enough to heat more than 2mn homes, it added.
Dvalin has been developed using a single subsea template with four production fields, and its production life is estimated to continue until 2038. It is Wintershall's fourth operated field off Norway to come online, joining Maria, Nova and Vega. It will also serve as a tie-in point for the company's Dvalin North project, which was approved by Norway's government for development this year.
Wintershall operates Dvalin with a 55% stake, while its partners Petoro and Sval Energi have shares of 35% and 10% respectively.