Norway: Wintershall Dea spuds Cuvette exploration well in the North Sea

• Wintershall Dea operated well spudded by Transocean Norge rig
• Targets the Middle Jurassic Cuvette gas condensate prospect
• Additional upside in Upper Jurassic Sandstones

Wintershall Dea and its partners, Petoro and DNO, have spudded the Cuvette exploration well next to the Vega field in the Norwegian North Sea with the Transocean Norge semi-submersible rig.

Vega is a Wintershall Dea operated oil, gas and condensate field comprising three subsea templates tied back to the nearby Gjøa platform. The Cuvette well will target a gas condensate prospect just south of the Vega Central template and infrastructure.

“This well is very much in line with our strategy of proving up new volumes in our core areas close to existing infrastructure where we can quickly develop discoveries into new fields,” said Roy Davies, VP Exploration & Subsurface at Wintershall Dea Norge.

Wintershall Dea is one of the key operators in this area of the Northern North Sea with the Vega and Nova subsea fields, the Orion oil discovery and several promising exploration licenses. The company is also a shareholder in the Gjøa platform which is the export hub for the surrounding fields.

“With Gjøa and Vega both in a mature production phase, we and our partners are highly motivated to continue to explore for new discoveries. These discoveries can utilise the spare capacity which will become available in the existing infrastructure in the coming years. In doing so, we continue to maximise the value of our assets for the benefit of ourselves, our partners and the whole of Norway,” said Anne Grethe Bretting, Wintershall Dea Exploration Manager for the North Sea. 

As well as targeting the Cuvette gas condensate prospect, the exploration well will also test the overlying Upper Jurassic sandstones in order to better understand the potential of the nearby Orion discovery and several other prospects in the surrounding area.

Cuvette is the latest Wintershall Dea operated well to be drilled with the Transocean Norge rig in a period of high activity by the company. The rig has already drilled development wells in the Maria field in the Norwegian Sea, successfully appraised the Bergknapp and Adriana discoveries and drilled production wells on the Nova field in the North Sea. During the rest of 2024 and 2025 it is scheduled to complete the Maria Phase 2 wells and to commence drilling of the Dvalin North development wells. It may also be used to drill additional wells for exploration and carbon storage licenses. 

_{About Wintershall Dea}

_{Wintershall Dea is a leading independent European gas and oil company with more than 120 years of experience as an operator and project partner along the entire E&P value chain. The company with German roots and headquarters in Kassel and Hamburg explores for and produces gas and oil in 11 countries worldwide in an efficient and responsible manner. With activities in Europe, Latin America and the MENA region (Middle East & North Africa), Wintershall Dea has a global upstream portfolio and, with its participation in natural gas transport, is also active in the midstream business. And we develop carbon management and low carbon hydrogen projects to contribute to climate goals and secure energy supplies. More in our Annual Report.}

_{As a European gas and oil company, we support the EU's 2050 carbon neutrality target. As our contribution we have set ourselves ambitious targets: We want to be net zero across our entire upstream operations – both operated and non-operated – by 2030. This includes Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (indirect) greenhouse gas emissions on an equity share basis. Wintershall Dea will also bring its methane emissions intensity below 0.1 per cent by 2025. We endorsed the World Bank’s Initiative ‘Zero Routine Flaring by 2030’ and continue to support the initiative aimed at eliminating routine flaring in operated assets by 2030. In addition, we plan to support global decarbonisation efforts by building up a carbon management and hydrogen business to potentially abate 20-30 million tonnes of CO2 per annum by 2040. You can find more about this in our Sustainability Report.}

_{Wintershall Dea was formed from the merger of Wintershall Holding GmbH and DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG, in 2019. Today, the company employs more than 2,000 people worldwide from almost 60 nations.}

_{The shareholders of Wintershall Dea (BASF and LetterOne) and Harbour Energy plc (Harbour) signed a business combination agreement in December 2023 to transfer Wintershall Dea’s E&P business consisting of its producing and development assets as well as exploration rights in Norway, Argentina, Germany, Mexico, Algeria, Libya (excluding Wintershall AG), Egypt and Denmark (excluding Ravn) as well as Wintershall Dea’s carbon capture and storage (CCS) licenses to Harbour. Until closing, Wintershall Dea and Harbour will continue to operate as independent companies. The transaction is, among other things, subject to approvals of merger control and foreign investment authorities in several countries. Subject to these regulatory approvals, closing is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2024. See the full BASF release here.}