Faroe to revise Brasse field reserves estimate as drilling results in

January 11, 2019

Faroe Petroleum, soon to be taken over by Norway’s DNO, has shared final results of the Brasse appraisal sidetrack well 31/7-3 A in the northern North Sea, off Norway.

Transocean Arctic rig/ Image by Marcusroos, under Public Domain license

The Brasse appraisal well 31/7-3 A sidetrack was planned as an appraisal of the northern part of the Brasse field. The drilling started on December 17, 2018, and the well was drilled to a total depth of 2254 meters below sea level.

Wireline logging, pressure data and fluid sampling confirmed that the well has encountered 62 meters of gross hydrocarbon-bearing Jurassic reservoir and a c. 20 m deeper oil-water contact in the northern part of Brasse compared to the central and southern parts. As previously reported, the other well, Brasse East, was recently completed as a dry hole.

Faroe on Friday said said: “Based on the extensive data collected from the four previous wellbores and the excellent quality sands encountered in the Brasse East exploration well 31/7-3 S, immediately to the east of Brasse and the northern appraisal side-track, the uncertainty range for the total gross volumes of recoverable hydrocarbons in the Brasse field will be revised.”

“The sidetrack well encountered a lower than expected net to gross ratio and a significantly deeper oil water contact. These new data points will now be incorporated in the Brasse geological models and an updated reserves range will be reported in due course,” Faroe said.

Drilling operations are being undertaken using the semi-submersible Transocean Arctic rig and the well will now be plugged and abandoned as planned. The co-venturer in the Brasse PL 740/PL 740 B/PL 740C licenses is Vår Energi AS (50%).

DNO, the Norwegian company that has through the hostile share purchases amassed enough shares this week to force Faroe’s board to accept its increased 160p takeover offer, has recently criticized Faroe for its Brasse development management.

DNO has cited a competent person’s report on Faroe reserves, according to which total Brasse reserves were 35.78 MMboe, or around 35 percent of Faroe’s total reserves.

In a statement on January 3, DNO said: “The Brasse East dry well is indeed troubling, as DNO had already noted that Faroe’s ability to deliver its longed for “transformational growth” heavily depends on the Brasse development, which according to Faroe’s own Competent Persons Report (“CPR”) today represents 35 percent of group reserves. Brasse’s development has already been delayed by two to three years and now awaits agreements, not yet finalized, with third-party host platform operators and a cross-license utilization agreement.”

Faroe made the Brasse discovery in 2016. It, at the time, said the field could be developed via a tie-back tied-back to the Brage production facilities or alternatively to other nearby installations. The discovery, declared commercial following appraisal drilling in 2017, is located 13 kilometers to the south of the Brage field platform, and 13 kilometers to the southeast of the Oseberg Field Centre.

Offshore Energy Today Staff