New milestone for TotalEnergies’ North Sea field revival project

Members of the Danish Underground Consortium (DUC), comprising TotalEnergies EP Denmark, BlueNord, and Nordsøfonden, have wrapped up the well completion test for the natural gas redevelopment project in the Danish sector of the North Sea.

According to BlueNord, the completion test for Tyra II has been met in line with the requirements of RBL Bank, based on demonstrated achieved production and oil production that is said to be above expectations.

Under the requirement, gas exports needed to surpass 191 mmscfpd on average over a rolling 30-day period. In February, the firm noted that the gas export rate exceeded the 191 mmscfpd threshold, expecting the completion test to be met in March.

“Upon meeting the Tyra completion test, BlueNord will reach an important milestone and be able to commence distributions to its shareholders,” the company noted at the time.

This achievement opens the door for the $253 million cash distribution, whose payment as a return of paid-in capital is expected to be declared soon.

As disclosed, the completion test was assessed using parameters that are thought to better reflect the underlying performance of the Tyra facilities, taking oil and gas production into account, as well as the ramp-up period related to the facility’s availability. This followed seven months of observed production.

Discovered in 1968 by Maersk Oil and producing since 1984, Tyra is located 225 kilometers west of the coast of Esbjerg. It is said to be Denmark’s largest natural gas field, and the center for processing and distributing gas to Denmark and several other countries.

The field comprises two main process centers, Tyra East and Tyra West, linked to five unmanned satellite fields–Tyra Southeast, Harald, Valdemar, Svend, and Roar. The gas is exported to shore, and the oil is exported to the riser platform Gorm E.

The redevelopment of the field was necessary due to its natural subsidence after years of production, causing the platforms to sink nearly five meters over the past 35 years. In September 2019, production and exports from the field were temporarily shut in, resuming in March 2024 following redevelopment.

The project ran into several obstacles following the first gas export from the Tyra II to Denmark that month. First, there were challenges related to two transformers supplying power to the vital gas compressors, delaying full commissioning. The issues were removed in October 2024.

The full technical capacity was then expected to be reached between November 5 and 15, 2024, but this time, the ramp-up was affected by inclement weather and minor operational occurrences, bumping the plateau production to February 2025.

Finally, after some operational obstacles caused by a breaker failure in the electrical high-voltage system were sorted out, the restart of Tyra II and the achievement of full technical capacity on the facilities were announced in April 2025.