RWE Dea Norge AS, operator of production licence 420, is in the process of completing the drilling of wildcat well 35/9-6 S. The well has been drilled about 16 km west of the Gjøa field.
The primary exploration target for the well was to prove petroleum in reservoir rocks from the Middle Jurassic (the Brent group). The secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in reservoir rocks in the Upper Jurassic (the Viking group) and the Lower Jurassic (the Dunlin group).
Petroleum (mainly oil) was proven over a gross column of more than 435 metres in the Viking group, the Brent and Dunlin groups. The reservoir rocks are of variable reservoir quality and thickness. The reservoirs also have different pressure regimes, and the water contact was not encountered.
Small-scale formation tests carried out showed variable flow properties. Preliminary estimates place the size of the discovery at between 2 and 10 million Sm3 of recoverable oil equivalents. The final size and extent of the discovery will require appraisal drilling.
The well is the first exploration well in production licence 420. The production licence was awarded in APA 2006. The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 3664 metres below the sea surface and was terminated in the Upper Triassic. Water depth at the site is 370 metres. The well will now be permanently plugged and abandoned.
Well 35/9-6 S was drilled by the Bredford Dolphin drilling facility, which will now proceed to the Coast Center Base shipyard (CCB Ågotnes) near Bergen.
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Source: NPD , November 29, 2010;