Berling gas and condensate field, Norway

The Berling gas and condensate field, formerly known as the Iris Hades, is located in the Norwegian Sea.

OMV (Norge) is the operator for the discovery with a 30% working interest. The other partners are Equinor Energy (40%) and DNO Norge (30%).

The field was discovered in 2018. It is estimated to contain around 45 million barrels of oil equivalents in recoverable resources.

The project advanced to Final Investment Decision (FID) following the submission of the Plan for Development and Operations (PDO) to the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy in December 2022. The cost of development is estimated to be NOK9.1bn (~$900m).

Production from the Berling field is expected to commence in 2028.

Berling field location details

Berling field is located on Haltenbanken in the Norwegian Sea within the production licence (PL) 644, PL 644 B and PL 644 C. It comprises two reservoirs- Hades and Iris.

Morvin field and Equinor-operated Asgard and Kristin fields are situated near the discovery.

Berling field discovery and appraisal

The Iris and Hades fields, now Berling, were discovered by the exploration well 6506/11-10 in April 2018.

The well was drilled by the Deepsea Bergen semi-submersible drilling rig, around 5km north-west of the Morvin field and 245km north-west of Kristiansund.

It was drilled to prove petroleum in the Lower Cretaceous (Lange formation) and Middle Jurassic (Garn formation).

In the primary exploration target (Hades), the well encountered a 35m gas/condensate column in the Lange formation. It then encountered a gas/condensate column of around 95m in the secondary exploration target (Iris) in the Garn formation.

The Iris and Hades reservoirs were appraised in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

The appraisal well 6506/11-11 S was drilled on the Iris gas/condensate discovery to vertical and measured depths of 4,433m and 4,443m under the sea surface.

According to preliminary estimates, the size of the discovery in the Garn formation was between 4 and 12 m standard cubic metres (Sm3) recoverable oil equivalents.

The appraisal well 6506/11-12 S on the Hades gas/condensate discovery was drilled to respective measured and vertical depths of 4,150m and 4,062m below sea level terminating in the Lange Formation in the Lower Cretaceous. Preliminary estimates put the size of the discovery between 2 and 7 million Sm3 of recoverable oil equivalents.

The 6506/11-12 S well was drilled by the Island Innovator drilling facility.

Berling Project development details

The recommended Berling field development plan involves a four-slot subsea production template that will be tied back via a 24km pipeline to the Åsgard B platform, which is operated by Equinor.

The gas from the field will be processed at the Åsgard B platform and will be exported to the Karsto gas processing plant through Åsgard Transport System for further processing.

The condensate will be mixed with other Åsgard production for storage and eventually, it will be exported by shuttle tankers.

In the development and operation phase, the project is expected to generate employment of around 4,200 man-years.

Once operational, the Berling field will help in maintaining Norway’s position as an important gas supplier to Europe.

Contractors Involved

Norway-based Heavelock Solutions was contracted to provide simulation services for well planning for the high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) Berling field.

In March 2022, TechnipFMC secured a contract from OMV (Norge) to provide integrated front-end engineering and design (FEED) for the subsea production system of the project. The NOK30m contract included the option for engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI).

OMV and Wintershall Dea awarded a rig contract to Transocean for the use of ‘Transocean Norge’ drilling rig for 17 wells in September 2022.

In February 2023, Baker Hughes won a four-year frame agreement for integrated well construction and completion (IWCC) services as OMV plans to drill three production wells on the Berling field developments between 2023 and 2027. These wells will be drilled from the Transocean Norge.

In March 2023, Equinor awarded an engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning (EPCIC) contract to Aker Solutions to tie back Berling to the Åsgard B platform. The offshore mobilisation is planned to start in November 2025, and the tie-back will be completed in December 2027.