RWE Dea: No go for Zidane

The Plan for Development and Operation (PDO) for the Zidane development offshore Norway will not be submitted to the authorities in October as planned.

”Further value enhancement is required to make the project more robust” says Hugo Sandal Managing Directorof RWE Dea Norge.

RWE Dea Norge is operator of the Zidane field. The plan was to develop the field with a subsea template and a tie-in to the Heidrun platform, where the gas will be processed and exported further through the Polarled pipeline, in which RWE Dea and its Zidane partners are already owners. The Zidane and Heidrun partners have been negotiating regarding the Heidrun tie-in, but have so far not been able to resolve all issues.

All main stakeholders have been working hard and have contributed constructively to get the project to its current status, RWE Dea’s statement ready.

However, there is a need to enhance the commercial value of the project further before the final investment decision can be taken. The partners in Zidane have therefore decided to spend more time to achieve this, RWE Dea says.

”We had a clear target to deliver the Plan for Development and Operation to the authorities now, but we have to improve the value of the project. Zidane is a significant gas resource for RWE Dea and in our opinion the field should be developed. RWE Dea as operator will do its utmost to bring Zidane on stream,” says Hugo Sandal.

RWE Dea has said it will continue to enhance the project in cooperation with its licence partners and other stakeholders.

“The important thing now for all parties is to look forward and work towards a solution. We are optimistic and believe that Zidane has the potential to become a good project both for the partners and society at large,” says Project Manager Lars Moe.

Zidane facts

Production licence 435, Zidane, is located approximately 15 kilometres north-west of the Heidrun field in the Norwegian Sea. The first exploration well was drilled in September of 2010, and a gas column of 150 meters was discovered in the Fangst group. The second discovery was made in a separate structure in 2012 where gas was discovered in a column of 140 meters, in the same interval. The resource estimate is 17.1 billion Sm3 gas and 0.4 million Sm3 condensate.

Production licence 435 is operated by RWE Dea Norge, which holds a 40 per cent share in the licence. The remaining stake in the field is held by OMV Norge AS (20 per cent), Maersk Oil Norway AS (20 per cent) and Edison International Norway Branch (20 per cent).