Oil and gas company Spirit Energy Norge has made a minor, non-profitable oil discovery and a dry well northwest of the Gjøa field in the North Sea offshore Norway.
Spirit Energy is in the process of completing the drilling of wildcat wells 35/9-13 and 35/9-14 and appraisal well 35/9-14 A on the Måløy slope in the North Sea.
The wells are located in production license 682, containing the Tethys prospect, where Spirit Energy is the operator with a 30% interest and its partners are Capricorn Norge with a 30% stake, Wellesley Petroleum with a 20% and Petoro with a 20% interest.
The wells were drilled about 6 kilometers northwest of the Gjøa field, 19 kilometers northeast of the 35/9-7 Nova oil discovery and 66 kilometers west of Florø.
The objective of well 35/9-13 was to prove petroleum in Upper Jurassic reservoir rocks (Intra Heather formation sandstones), to investigate the presence and quality of the reservoir rocks and to conduct extensive data acquisition in the event of a discovery. The objective of well 35/9-14 A was to delineate the discovery.
Well 35/9-13 was temporarily plugged and abandoned due to technical problems. The 35/9-14 was drilled 35 meters southeast of 35/9-13, with the same exploration target.
Well 35/9-14 encountered an oil column of about 20 meters in the Intra Heather formation, of which 10 meters comprise the reservoir which is composed of sandstones with poor reservoir properties. The oil/water contact was not encountered.
Well 35/9-14 A encountered about 30 meters of aquiferous Intra Heather formation sandstones with traces of hydrocarbons and with poor reservoir properties. The well is classified as dry.
Preliminary estimates place the size of the discovery between 0.3 – 1 million standard cubic metres (Sm3) of recoverable oil. Preliminary assessments indicate that the discovery is not currently profitable. The licensees will evaluate the discovery together with other nearby prospects as regards further follow-up.
The wells were not formation-tested, but extensive data acquisition and sampling have been conducted.
Wells 35/9-13, 35/9-14 and 35/9-14 A were drilled to respective vertical depths of 3191, 3625 and 3707 meters, and respective measured depths of 3223, 3657 and 3900 meters below the sea surface. 35/9-13 was terminated in the Rødby formation in the Lower Cretaceous, while 35/9-14 and 35/9-14 A were both terminated in the Heather formation in the Middle Jurassic. Water depth in the area is 365 meters. The wells will now be permanently plugged and abandoned.
The wells were drilled by the Songa Enabler Cat D drilling rig, which will now proceed to Kristiansund for maintenance, and then on to well operations on the Snorre field for Statoil.