Neptune kicks off production from Duva field off Norway

Oil and gas company Neptune Energy has started production from the Duva development in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.

Neptune is the operator of the field and its partners are Idemitsu Petroleum Norge, PGNiG Upstream Norway, and Sval Energi.

The Duva oil and gas field, located in production licence 636, was developed as a subsea installation with three oil producers and one gas producer, tied back to the Neptune Energy-operated Gjøa semi-submersible platform. Final drilling operations on four Duva production wells started in April 2021 and Neptune was granted consent for the start-up of the field by Norwegian authorities in late July 2021.

To maximise efficiency, Duva was executed in parallel with the Gjøa P1 development, which began production in February this year. Following Gjøa P1 and the April start-up of production at the Merakes project in Indonesia, where Neptune has a 20 per cent non-operated interest, Duva is the company’s third development to come online this year.

Neptune Energy’s Managing Director in Norway, Odin Estensen, said: “Duva is an excellent example of a successful fast-track development, with production beginning less than five years after its discovery.

“Tied back to existing infrastructure, it has been delivered efficiently and under budget through strong collaboration with our partners and key suppliers, and is expected to have one of the lowest CO2 emissions per produced barrel of oil equivalent (boe) on the Norwegian Continental Shelf”.

Duva is located 14 km northeast of the Gjøa field at a water depth of 340 metres. The estimated total reserves are 71 million boe, of which 56 per cent is gas. It will add approximately 30 kboepd (gross) to the Gjøa facility at a plateau.

Neptune pointed out that, due to it being electrified with hydropower from shore, CO2 emissions per boe on the Gjøa platform are less than half the average on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

Neptune Energy’s Projects and Engineering Director in Norway, Erik Oppedal, added: “The Duva field is expected to produce for approximately 10 years and thus contribute to extending the life of the Gjøa platform. This will help lower Gjøa’s production costs per barrel, adding significant value for licence partners and future tie-backs”.