Aker BP strikes oil in North Sea well

Norwegian oil company Aker BP has struck oil in the Frosk exploration well 24/9-12 located near Alvheim in the North Sea, offshore Norway.

Aker BP said on Monday that the company was close to completing drilling of the well. The well was spudded on December 29, 2017 by the semi-submersible drilling unit Transocean Arctic.

According to the company, preliminary analysis indicated a discovery size of 30-60 million barrels of oil equivalents (mmboe), which was significantly more than the company’s pre-drill estimates of 3-21 mmboe.

Aker BP added that the discovery also had a positive impact on the assessment of further exploration potential in the area.

Frosk is located in PL340, which also contains the Bøyla field. Bøyla has been producing oil since 2015 through a subsea installation tied back to the Alvheim FPSO.

Aker BP is the operator of PL340 with a 65 percent working interest. The partners are Point Resources with 20 percent and Lundin Petroleum with 15 percent interest.

Gro G. Haatvedt, senior VP of Exploration at Aker BP, said: “The Frosk discovery adds significant volume and value to our resource base, and provides an ideal basis for another profitable expansion project which will secure optimal utilization of the infrastructure in the Alvheim area for many years.

“The discovery has given us valuable new information about the geological conditions in the area, and has further increased the attractiveness of other possible exploration targets.”

To remind, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) granted Aker BP drilling permits for drilling of three wells in the PL340 license in December 2017.