Shearwater to perform ‘pioneering’ survey over Norwegian gas field

OMV Norge, a subsidiary of Austria’s oil and gas company OMV, has appointed Shearwater GeoServices to conduct a “pioneering” towed streamer survey with ocean bottom nodes (OBN) over its gas and condensate discovery offshore Norway.

Under the contract, Shearwater is set to begin the hybrid survey over the Berling gas and condensate discovery this month, spanning 1,040 square kilometers and lasting for three months.

The company’s advanced vessels SW Tasman and Oceanic Vega will lead the operations. SW Tasman will operate as an ROV node deployment vessel for the first time following its conversion announced in October 2022, and will deploy the nodes before Oceanic Vega acquires the multi-Azimuth towed streamer survey.

“By completing the conversion of SW Tasman, Shearwater has adapted our fleet to control more operational factors inhouse as we meet the increased demand in the seabed market,” said Irene Waage Basili, CEO of Shearwater. “We are looking forward to demonstrate our upgraded capabilities to OMV on this innovative towed and OBN hybrid survey.”

The Berling field, previously known as Iris Hades, consists of two separate discoveries in the Norwegian Sea and is planned to be developed with a four-slot subsea production template tied back via a 24-kilometer pipeline to the Equinor-operated Åsgard B processing platform for separation and treatment.

Total investment in the development is estimated at approximately NOK 9.1 billion (€872 million). The tie-back is to be completed in December 2027, with production start planned for 2028.

Norway last month put the project on its approved list along with 18 other ones.

Aker Solutions won the contract to deliver engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning (EPCIC) related to the tie-back of Berling to the Åsgard B platform, while TechnipFMC will design and install the subsea production systems, controls, pipelines, and umbilicals for the development.