Oil production doubled thanks to onshore production activities

In order to develop the Mittelplate crude oil reservoir from the mainland as well, RWE Dea as operator and Wintershall Holding AG as a partner succeeded in implementing a drilling concept that is unique in Germany to this day. Extreme extended-reach wells had to be drilled from Friedrichskoog to a length of 8,000 to over 9,000 meters westwards to reach the target formation at a depth of around 2,000 meters. The successful completion of seven production wells, which set new benchmarks and are among the most widely deviated extended-reach wells in the world, has made it possible to also operate an onshore production facility since June 2000. It meanwhile amounts to some 660,000 mt of crude oil each year.

Processing facilities of Dieksand Land Station 

The Holstein production district is controlled from the Dieksand Land Station, where the facilities needed to treat the crude oil are located. The treatment facilities are required to separate the Mittelplate crude oil into petroleum gas, condensate and clean oil, as well as the reservoir water extracted along with the hydrocarbons. Due to the additional processing of the increased volume of crude oil produced offshore and transported through the pipeline linking the island to the Land Station, significant modifications and upgrades to the plant and land-based processing facilities were required. The throughput capacity of the processing systems was more than doubled from its previous annual figure of 1.2 million to 2.5 million mt.