Bergknapp offshore oil and gas discovery is located within the PL836S licence in the Norwegian Sea.
Wintershall Dea operates PL836S Bergknapp with 40% interest. Equinor (30%) and DNO Norge (30%) are the other two partners. The licence was awarded in Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) 2015 by the Norwegian authorities.
Equinor became a stakeholder in the licence after it bought Spirit Energy Norway’s key assets in 2022.
The operator discovered oil in Bergknapp prospect in 2020. This was followed by a gas discovery in the deeper Åre Formation in 2021.
Project Gallery
In December 2023, the partners completed the drilling of an appraisal well at the discovery and began assessing potential field development alternatives.
Bergknapp Discovery Location
The Bergknapp Discovery in PL836S is located 8km west of the Maria Field and 200km north of the Kristiansund on the west coast of Norway.
The water depth in the area is around 312m below sea level.
Bergknapp Discovery and Appraisal Details
In April 2020, the 6406/3-10 well, the first in PL836S, discovered oil at Bergknapp prospect. The well found oil in the Middle (Garn Formation) and Lower Jurassic (Tilje Formation) reservoir rocks.
In the primary target, the well encountered hydrocarbon-bearing sandstones of about 35m in the Ile Formation and an oil column of 120m in the Tilje Formation.
The 6406/3-10 well also encountered about 60m of oil column in Garn Formation.
The well was drilled to a total vertical depth of 4,566m below sea level and was terminated in the Åre Formation.
It was partially drilled by the West Mira drilling facility, and then completed by the Scarabeo 8 drilling facility.
In 2021, the 6406/3-10 A well was drilled as a geological side-track to well 6406/3-10 to appraise the oil discovery in the Garn, Ile and Tilje formations. Besides hitting oil columns in the three formations, the well encountered a gas column of approximately 260m in the Åre Formation.
In December 2023, an appraisal well 6406/3-12 S confirmed the Bergknapp Discovery. Drilled using Transocean Norge platform, the well encountered a 59m oil column in the Ile Formation, about 146m column in the Tilje Formation and a 108m oil column in the upper part of the Åre Formation.
It was drilled to a vertical depth of 4729m below sea level and terminated in the Åre Formation from the Early Jurassic.
Reserves
Wintershall Dea updated resource estimates for the Bergknapp discovery following the completion of appraisal drilling in December 2023.
The asset is expected to contain between 44 million and 75 million barrels of oil equivalent in the Garn, Ile and Tilje formations.
The resource estimate for the Åre Formation ranges between 6 and 25 million barrels of oil equivalent.
Bergknapp Discovery Development
Bergknapp and Åre Formation are assessed as potential subsea developments.
The partners are expected to consider tying the discovery into existing infrastructure in the region, as it is located near several other producing fields.
Wintershall Dea operates Maria and Dvalin field in the area around Bergknapp.
Key Contractors Involved
Transocean Norge rig was used for drilling the appraisal well for the Bergknapp Discovery.
Notably, Wintershall and OMV Norge contracted Transocean for the use of Transocean Norge for 17 wells in September 2022.
Under the contract, the Transocean Norge rig was supposed to be used to drill 11 operated wells for Wintershall Dea and six operated wells for OMV. The rig may also be used to drill additional potential wells until 2027.
The 6406/3-10 A well was drilled by Odfjell Drilling’s Deepsea Aberdeen rig.
Seadrill’s West Mira drilling rig and SAIPEM’s Scarabeo 8 drilling facility were also used for drilling activity.