DNO has said it aims to reach first oil by the first quarter of 2028 from its Kjøttkake discovery in the North Sea.
DNO and field partner Aker BP announced on 6 November they are fast-tracking the subsea tieback on the Norwegian Continental Shelf to the Gjøa area infrastructure about 44 km to the northeast, which is operated by Vår Energi.
Under the plan, Aker BP will assume operatorship of the Kjøttkake discovery during the development phase, allowing the project to benefit from Aker BP’s fast-track development capabilities. DNO said the team-up with Aker BP will allow the development to draw on the company’s alliance with suppliers and its equipment inventory to deliver the project on time.
As part of the agreement, Aker BP will divest its interest in the Verdande field to DNO. In return, Aker BP will increase its stake in the producing Vilje field, expand its position in the Kveikje discovery, and acquire additional interests in several exploration licenses. All interest changes are subject to customary regulatory approvals and partner consents.
When DNO announced Kjøttkake as a discovery in license PL1182 S in March, the operator said the Paleocene injectite sandstones were of excellent reservoir quality. The Kjøttkake exploration well, drilled by the Deepsea Yantai, encountered a 41-m oil column and a 9-m gas column. A sidetrack drilled horizontally 1,350 m westward along the reservoir in the Sotra formation confirmed the presence of the oil column throughout the discovery, the operator said.
At the time, DNO set preliminary estimates of gross recoverable resources in the range from 39 million to 75 million BOE, with a mean of 55 million BOE.
Currently, DNO operates license PL1182 S with 40% interest on behalf of partners Aker BP with 30% interest, Concedo with 15%, and Japex Norge with 15%.
