Polish PGNiG Is Preparing for Drilling Operations on the Norwegian Shelf
The Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority (Havtil) has issued PGNiG Upstream Norway (PUN, part of the Polish Orlen Group) permission to conduct drilling operations in the Norwegian Sea. Havtil reports.
Drilling operations will be carried out under production license PL1055, which was issued on February 14, 2020 and will be valid until February 14, 2028. PUN is the operator of the license with a 60% participation share, with another 40% owned by its partner Norske Shell.
Well Tomcat 6305/10-1 is expected to be drilled at a depth of 367 m using the Deepsea Yantai semi-submersible drilling rig (SSDR):
- built in China, at the CIMC shipyard in 2019;
- operated by Odfjell Drilling;
- the installation is designed to operate in harsh conditions and at depths of up to 1.2 thousand m;
- length – 106.75 m;
- width – 73.7 m.
Deepsea Yantai was previously involved in the drilling of exploration wells 25/8-23 S and 25/8-23 A&B in the Balder area, located in the central North Sea off the coast of Norway. Then Vår Energi announced the discovery of the Ringhorne Nord oil field with estimated recoverable reserves of 13 to 23 million barrels.
The strategic goal of PGNiG Upstream Norway is to ensure uninterrupted supply of natural gas to the Orlen Group. The company notes that this goal can be achieved through stable and diversified hydrocarbon production on the Norwegian continental shelf.
PGNiG Upstream Norway is a partner in the development of several producing fields: rmen Lange, Skarv, Gina Krog, Tommeliten Alpha, Duva, Kvitebjørn, Marulk, Alve, Ærfugl Nord, Vale, Skogul, Vilje, Sleipner Vest and Sleipner Øst, Yme, Vale, Utgard , Gungne, Tambar Øst, Valemon and Morvin. The company also has interests in 7 fields that are under development: Fenris, Ørn, Alve Nord, Tyrving, Andvare, Verdande and Yggdrasil.
According to the results of the licensing round Awards in predefined areas 2023 (APA-2023), PGNiG Upstream Norway received 10 licenses, incl. 1 camera room.
In 2023, hydrocarbon production in Norway:
- amounted to about 233 million m3 of oil equivalent (boe), which corresponds to about 4 million boe/day, thus, the indicator remained at the 2022 level;
- oil production in 2023 increased by 6.4%, natural gas production decreased by 5.3% due to unscheduled and lengthy maintenance shutdowns at several onshore facilities and fields;
- at the end of 2023, there were 92 fields operating on the Norwegian shelf, another 27 projects were at the development stage;
- in total, Norwegian oil and gas companies drilled 34 wells in 2023, of which 23 were exploration wells, and hydrocarbon reserves were discovered in 14 of them.
