The Netherlands Smart production
Wintershall Dea currently operates 11 producing facilities on the Dutch Continental Shelf of which 7 are production platforms and 4 subsea completions. All facilities are controlled remotely from the Central Control Room in Den Helder. This enables the company to increase its operational efficiency and effectiveness, and to produce economically even from the smaller fields in the Southern North Sea.
Natural gas provides more than a third of the electricity used in the Netherlands.
Wintershall Dea has been active in the Dutch North Sea for more than 50 years. The company is today a shareholder of Wintershall Noordzee, one of the most active offshore gas producers in the region. The portfolio includes both the Sillimanite and Sillimanite South gas fields which are being produced from three wells leading to the D12-B production platform. The wells came on stream in February 2020 and January 2021, and the topside of the platform was formally operational as the topside of the E18-A production platform.
In addition to natural gas, Wintershall Noordzee has the intention to start producing oil from one of the largest oil discoveries in the Southern North Sea of recent years. The Rembrandt oil field was discovered in 2012 and is supplemented by the neighbouring Vermeer oil field. Both fields are located some 120 kilometres north of Den Helder within production licence F17a. Development plans are underway.
Wintershall Dea Carbon Management Solutions (WD CMS), a 100%-owned subsidiary of Wintershall Dea, plans to convert the two gas fields Q1-B and P6-AB in the Dutch North Sea into CO2 storage sites for unavoidable European industrial emissions. The project realisation is supported by the regulatory regime of the Netherlands, one of the most progressive in Europe. Furthermore, some of the depleted fields held by Wintershall Noordzee have significant CO2 storage potential and are located in proximity to CO2 producers onshore.
Where we operate in the Netherlands
All of Wintershall Noordzee’s Dutch gas production platforms are unmanned and monitored 24/7 from the mainland. To enable that, the company runs the Central Control Room in Den Helder. That also makes production from small fields cost-effective. The gas fields Sillimanite and Sillimanite South straddle the maritime border of the Netherlands and the UK. The Rembrandt oil discovery is located approximately 120 kilometres north of Den Helder in the exploration concession F17a. It is complemented by the neighbouring Vermeer oil field.
1,200
km of Dutch offshore gas pipelines are operated by Wintershall Noordzee.
1.2
million cubic metres of gas per day can be processed at the Ijmuiden Q8 terminal.
100 T
is the weight of the upper part of the mini platform L6-B; the substructure weighs 1,100T.
8
fully decommissioned platforms have been reused at new locations in the Dutch north sea.
An aerial view of the L6-B mini platform.
L6-B – Tiny platform, big possibilities
L6-B is Wintershall Noordzee’s first mini platform and has been producing natural gas in the Dutch North Sea since 2015. It is operated, controlled, and supplied with power from a larger neighbouring platform. Wintershall Noordzee is the first company that has been allowed to produce here – the unmanned platform is situated in a restricted military area. That is why it was built to be extremely small and light. The strength of the new generation of mini platforms is that they can be used in shallow waters.
