Maersk Oil withdraws from Dvalin project

Danish oil company Maersk Oil has given away its stake in the Dvalin field, formerly known as Zidane, located offshore Norway, to its partners in the project. 

Earlier this week, DEA, the field operator, submitted the Plan for Development and Operation (PDO) for the field to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy in Norway.

The Norwegian news website Offshore.no reported, quoting Norway’s business newspaper Dagens Næringsliv, that Maersk first tried to sell and was later forced to give away its 20% interest in the field to DEA and Petoro bringing their total interests up to 50% and 30%, respectively. To remind, Petoro recently bought its 20% interest from the Austrian energy firm OMV. The remaining 20% is held by Edison.

Offshore Energy Today reached out to Maersk Oil seeking confirmation of these reports.

In an e-mail to Offshore Energy Today, a spokesperson for Maersk Oil said that the company’s technical view of the project means its participation in Dvalin does not provide the economic value the company would need to justify further investment.

“Consequently, we are withdrawing from the development. We have planned a smooth and quick exit from the license and ensured that our partners in the development and the authorities are aligned with this to ensure this does not affect the momentum of the remaining partners in delivering the project.”

When asked if the company sold or gave away its stake to the partners, Maersk Oil declined to comment.

Maersk Group recently announced it was working to split the company into two separate entities: one focused on shipping and logistics, the other on oil and gas sector. As part of this process, Maersk Oil got a new boss as the company’s former chief operating officer Gretchen Watkins was named its new chief executive officer.

After losing operatorship in the Al-Shaheen field offshore Qatar, Maersk Oil is focusing on bringing online the Culzean field, which has been described as the largest new field discovered in the UK North Sea in more than a decade.

Also, last week, the company outlined plans to review the scope and scale of its headquarters organization over the next three months. The new CEO Gretchen Watkins said the changes could be unsettling for the employees.

Dvalin contracts awarded

The Dvalin field, located in the Norwegian Sea some 15 kilometers north-west of Heidrun and 290 kilometers from Nyhamna in Mid-Norway, will be DEA’s first operated field development project in Norway.

The Dvalin licensees plan to produce a total volume of approximately 18.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas from two reservoirs. The development cost is estimated to 1.1 billion Euros (10 billion Norwegian Kroner), with planned production start in 2020.

On Tuesday, the field operator awarded a contract to Aker Solutions to deliver the subsea production system, maintenance, and services at the natural gas development. The company also awarded the contract for modules and offshore integration at the Heidrun platform to Aibel.

Offshore Energy Today Staff