Aker BP makes oil discovery in North Sea

Aker BP, a new oil and gas player formed by merging BP Norge and Det norske, has made an oil discovery east of the Frigg field in the North Sea, offshore Norway. 

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) said on Friday that Aker BP, the operator of the production license 442, concluded drilling of wildcat well 25/2-18 S and appraisal wells 25/2-18 A, 25/2-18 B, and 25/2-18 C.

The wells were drilled four kilometers south of Frigg Gamma Delta oil and gas discovery and eight kilometers north of the Frøy field in the North Sea.

According to the NPD, the objective of the wildcat was to prove petroleum in Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks belonging to the Vestland Group which include the Hugin and Sleipner formation. The other three wells were drilled to delineate the discovery.

The wildcat 25/2-18 S encountered two oil columns in the Hugin formation, 30 and 86 meters in total, both of which had about 20 meters of sandstones with moderate to good reservoir quality.

Appraisal well 25/2-18 A, which was drilled one kilometer toward the southeast in relation to 25/2-18 S, also encountered two oil columns in the Hugin formation, 34 and 27 meters in total, both with about 25 meters of sandstones with moderate to good reservoir quality.

Appraisal well 25/2-18 B, which was drilled 1.4 kilometers north of 25/2-18 S to test the northern segment, encountered the Hugin formation with aquiferous sandstones of about 15 and 75 meters, both with moderate reservoir quality. The well is classified as dry.

Appraisal well 25/2-18 C, which was drilled one kilometer west of 25/2-18 S, encountered three oil columns in the Hugin formation totaling 27, 23 and 55 meters, of which 15, 11 and 10 meters of sandstones of moderate to good reservoir quality. A 7-metre condensate column was also encountered, of which 3 meters in sandstones of moderate reservoir quality.

Preliminary estimates place the size of the discovery between 4 and 12 million standard cubic meters (Sm3) of recoverable oil equivalents. The licensees are assessing the discovery along with other nearby discoveries with a view towards potential development.

Extensive data acquisition and sampling have been carried out. Two successful formation tests (DST) were conducted in 25/2-18 A. The maximum production rate was 600 Sm3 of oil per flow day through a 40/64-inch nozzle opening in the lowermost oil zone. The gas-oil ratio is 140 Sm3/Sm3. The production rate in the uppermost oil zone was 210 Sm3 of oil per flow day through a 24/64-inch nozzle opening. The gas-oil ratio was 164 Sm3/Sm3. The formation tests showed moderate flow properties.

The wells are the second, third, fourth and fifth exploration wells in production license 442, awarded in APA 2006.

Wells 25/2-18 S, 25/2-18 A, 25/2-18 B and 25/2-18 C were drilled to respective measured depths of 3870, 4066, 4335 and 4369 meters below the sea surface, and vertical depths of 3813, 3723, 3803 and 4029 meters below the sea surface. All of the wells were terminated in the Dunlin Group in the Lower Jurassic. Water depth at the site is 121 meters. The wells will be permanently plugged and abandoned.

Wells 25/2-18 S, 25/2-18 A, 25/2-18 B, and 25/2-18 C were drilled by the Maersk Interceptor jack-up drilling rig, which will now proceed to production license PL 001B – Ivar Aasen, where the plan is for the rig to drill three water injector wells and one oil producer.