Lundin comes up dry in Barents Sea well

Lundin Norway has failed to find hydrocarbons after completing the drilling of wildcat well 7219/12-3 S in the Barents Sea off Norway. 

The well 7219/12-3 S is located in production license 533 where Lundin Norway is the operator. Lundin got a drilling permit for the well in early November 2017 and a consent to use the Ocean Rig-owned drilling rig Leiv Eiriksson for the well later that month.

The well was drilled about 34 kilometers northwest of the 7220/11-1 (Alta) discovery well, and about 2.5 kilometers southwest of the 7219/12-1 (Filicudi) discovery well.

The primary exploration target for wildcat well 7219/12-3 S was to investigate the reservoir potential and prove petroleum in two reservoir levels from the Late Jurassic and Early Jurassic/Middle Jurassic Age (the Hekkingen formation and the Stø/Nordmela formations).

The secondary exploration target was to investigate the reservoir potential in two reservoir levels from the Early Cretaceous and Late Triassic/Early Jurassic Age (the Kolje and Tubåen formation).

The well 7219/12-3 S did not encounter reservoir rocks in the Hekkingen formation. In the Stø formation, the well encountered water-bearing sandstone layers totaling about 100 meters with moderate to good reservoir quality. In the Nordmela formation, the well encountered water-bearing sandstone layers totaling about 90 meters, with moderate reservoir quality.

In the Kolje formation, a thin water-bearing sandstone layer with poor reservoir quality was encountered, and in the Tubåen formation, the well encountered water-bearing sandstone layers totaling about 40 meters with moderate reservoir quality. The well is dry.

Data acquisition and sampling have been carried out. This is the sixth exploration well in production license 533, which was awarded in the 20th licensing round in 2009.

The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 2682 meters below the sea surface, and was terminated in the Fruholmen formation from the Late Triassic Age.

Water depth at the site is 313 metres. The well will now be permanently plugged and abandoned.

The well 7219/12-3 S was drilled by the Leiv Eiriksson drilling rig, which will now permanently plug well 7219/12-1 in the same production license.