Wintershall Confirms Gjoa Tie-back for Norway's Skarfjell

Oil and gas produced from the Skarfjell field offshore Norway will be developed with two subsea templates tied back to the North Sea Gjoa platform for processing and export, German operator Wintershall said February 15, confirming an earlier announcement from partner DEA.

Gjoa, operated by French Engie, will also provide lift gas to the field and water injection for pressure support. “Reaching this stage in the development has required a thorough technical and commercial investigation into various development solutions for Skarfjell. By deciding with our licence partners to pursue a tie-back to existing infrastructure as our preferred option, we believe we have found the best way of unlocking the maximum value from the field. In this way Skarfjell could provide substantial returns for Wintershall, our partners and the rest of Norwegian society," said the operator's Norwegian operations boss Bernd Schrimpf.

Several studies will now be conducted before the final investment decision and the plan for development and operation (PDO) can be submitted to the government for approval.

Skarfjell was discovered in 2012 and is in the Quadrant 35 area in the Norwegian North Sea. It is expected to yield between 60mn and 140mn barrels of oil equivalents. Most of it is in production license PL 418, with a possible extension into PL 378. In PL 418 Wintershall is operator with 35%, Capricorn (part of Cairn Energy) has 20%, Bayerngas has 20%, EDF's Italian subsidiary Edison has 15% and Russian-owned DEA 10%.

Wintershall is the upstream business of German chemicals giant BASF.

William Powell