“We consider the Warka discovery as extremely important for the strategic expansion of our gas production operations on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.” commented Paweł Majewski, the President of the PGNiG Management Board. The PGNiG group also boosted its output on the Norwegian Continental Shelf and confirmed the results of the exploration well at the Alve Nord East prospect.
The Warka prospect was first identified by PGNiG Upstream Norway in 2015 and jointly evaluated with ConocoPhillips, resulting in a mutual application in APA 2018, including a firm well commitment. PL1009 was awarded in 2019 and the prospect was approved for drilling in 2020, followed by the drilling operations which commenced in August 2020.
“We consider the Warka discovery as extremely important for the strategic expansion of our gas production operations on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. We seek to ensure that the largest possible volumes of our own gas are brought from Norway to Poland via the Baltic Pipe. The new gas discovery takes us a step closer to achieving that goal,” commented Paweł Majewski, President of the PGNiG Management Board.
“I extend my gratitude to our specialists at PGNiG Upstream Norway. This success marks the culmination of their hard work as a team and is owed to their experience gained on the shelf,” Mr Majewski added.
The new Warka discovery is located south-west of the Skarv and Ærfugl fields, in the central part of the Norwegian Sea, approximately 240 km north-west of the coast of Norway. Water depth is approximately 400 m. The exploration well which discovered the Warka field was drilled to a depth of 4,985 m below the sea level by the Leiv Eiriksson drilling rig.
The confirmed presence of natural gas accumulation in the Warka prospect is another success recently reported by PGNiG Upstream Norway. In 2019, the company made an oil and gas discovery named Shrek in licence PL838. The field is being prepared for development using Skarv’s production infrastructure.
PGNiG Upstream Norway and its licence partners have brought on stream another three wells in the Ærfugl field. This will enable the company to increase its total output of natural gas on the Norwegian Continental Shelf to almost 1 bcm in 2021.
“The new wells in the Ærfugl field were commissioned according to the schedule, despite the difficulties caused by the coronavirus epidemic. Their launch will not only significantly increase the PGNiG Group’s natural gas output in Norway, but will also have a very favourable effect on the financial performance of PUN. Ærfugl is one of the most profitable projects on the entire Norwegian Continental Shelf,” said Paweł Majewski, the sole owner of PUN.
The Ærfugl field development plan envisages drilling six production wells in two phases, three in each phase. In April 2020, the first well from Phase 2 was brought on stream. The other two will be commissioned in 2021 – two years ahead of the original schedule. Once the entire licence development plan has been completed, Ærfugl’s annual gas output attributable to PGNiG’s Norwegian subsidiary will be 0.5 bcm in the peak period. The fuel will be transported to Poland via the Baltic Pipe, currently under construction.
PGNiG Upstream Norway (PUN), PGNiG S.A.’s subsidiary, in partnership with the operator Aker BP ASA, have also completed the drilling of an exploration well in the Alve Nord East prospect, approximately 7 km north east of Alve Nord, an undeveloped gas field.
The well on the Alve Nord East prospect was drilled using Deepsea Nordkapp, a 6th generation semi-submersible drilling platform. Water depth at the drilling location is 362 metres. Extensive data acquisition has been carried out in the well, and gas and oil samples have been taken for analysis. Based on the results, the partners will assess the discovery and decide on further steps.
Currently, PUN holds interests in 32 licences on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (the acquisition of interests in four licences is awaiting approval by the Norwegian authorities). The company produces crude oil and natural gas from seven fields and is involved in development projects on another five.