Wintershall Dea Delays Dvalin Launch
Germany's Wintershall Dea has postponed the commercial launch of the Dvalin gas field in the central Norwegian Sea after its gas was found to contain too high levels of mercury, the company reported on January 21.
Mercury, which can corrode pipelines and equipment, was found in higher levels during production tests than during exploratory work at Dvalin 10 years ago, Wintershall Dea said.
"Wintershall Dea together with its project partners have commenced studies to identify a technical solution to enable full production, including the application of established industry mercury removal solution," Wintershall Dea explained. "Until an appropriate remediation solution is implemented, the gas flow from the field will be curtailed."
Regulators gave Wintershall Dea the all-clear to begin production at Dvalin in October. The field has been tied back to Equinor's floating Heidrun platform some 15 km northwest. Its four wells are expected to recover 18bn m3.
Wintershall Dea operates Dvalin with a 55% stake, while Norway's Petoro has 35% and Italy's Edison 10%.