Norway’s DNO building up oil & gas portfolio through new acquisitions and drilling ops

DNO Norge, a subsidiary of Norway’s oil and gas player DNO, has been stockpiling its oil and gas arsenal by pursuing acquisitions of offshore fields and searching for more hydrocarbons on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS).

Thanks to the expansion of its portfolio with five oil and gas fields, including operatorship, acquired from Vår Energi, DNO’s wholly-owned subsidiary DNO Norge holds interests in all producing and under-development fields in the Norne area in the Norwegian Sea, which has become the core area for the firm on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

The acquisition includes interests in four producing fields – Norne (6.9%), Skuld (11.5%), Urd (11.5%), and Marulk (20% and operatorship) – and the ongoing Verdande development (10%). Before the transaction, DNO held interests in Alve (32%), Marulk (17%), and Andvare development (32%) in the Norne area.

While the latest additions bring more than eight million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) in reserves and resources net to DNO, the acquired assets delivered approximately 3,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in the first half of 2024, expected to rise to above 5,000 boepd in 2026 as the Verdande contribution kicks in.

With all fields in the Norne area tied back to the Equinor-operated FPSO Norne that came onstream in 1997, the produced oil is loaded from the FPSO to tankers for export, while gas is exported by pipeline through the Åsgard Transport System. Given its expanded area footprint, DNO has ramped up studies of near-field exploration targets and infill well opportunities.

Following the Norwegian player’s acquisition of a 25% stake in the UK’s Arran field a few months ago, the new Norne assets are expected to support a step-up in DNO North Sea’s production next year, together with the restart of Trym (50% and operator) in the fourth quarter of 2024 and start-up of Andvare in 2025.

Furthermore, the Norwegian firm continues its exploration activities in the North Sea, with the ongoing drilling of the combined Heisenberg appraisal and Angel exploration well (49%), followed by Ringand (20%) and Falstaff (50% and operator) which are expected to spud in September. The company also submitted one of the largest applications in its history for the upcoming award in pre-defined areas 2024 (APA 2024) licensing round, with awards due during the first quarter of 2025.

DNO took third place among the most active exploration drillers on the Norwegian Continental Shelf last year, based on drilled wells, however, the firm ranked second in discovered volumes with an estimated 100 mmboe net. With a focus on near-infrastructure exploration, the company claims it acted as an early mover in acquiring substantial acreage positions in selected areas that have since become hotspots.

While revealing a play-opening gas condensate discovery in 2023, DNO underlined that the preliminary evaluation of the discovery indicated gross recoverable resources in the range of 25-130  mmboe on a P90-P10 basis.