Lundin spuds Edvard Grieg and Gohta appraisal wells

Lundin Norway has started appraisal drilling on the Edvard Grieg field and the Gohta discovery, offshore Norway. 

The oil company informed on Monday that the appraisal well 16/1-27 in PL338 on the Edvard Grieg field in the North Sea is being drilled on the southwestern flank of the field by the semi-submersible drilling rig Island Innovator, which left Semco Maritime’s yard in late February following the upgrade project.

The company gained safety consent to carry out exploration drilling on the Edvard Grieg field with the Island Innovator rig in January and a drilling permit for the well in early February.

According to Lundin, following the 2016 year end reserves additions on Edvard Grieg in relation to a larger oil column being proven in the northwestern flank of the field, further resource potential has been identified in the southwestern flank of the field.

The well is being drilled 3 kilometers west of the Edvard Grieg platform and is targeting additional gross resources of up to 30 MMboe. The drilling operation is expected to take approximately 30 days.

Gohta appraisal 

The appraisal well 7120/1-5 in PL492 on the Gohta discovery in the Barents Sea is being drilled by the semi-submersible drilling rig Leiv Eiriksson. The company picked up its drilling permit for the well in mid-December and a safety consent to use the Ocean Rig-owned semi-sub later in December.

It is being drilled approximately 4 kilometers north of the original discovery well 7120/1-3 and is the second appraisal well drilled on the Gohta discovery.

The company stated that the main objective of well 7120/1-5 is to delineate the northeastern extent of the discovery and to provide a calibration point for the drilling of a horizontal well for a possible extended well test. The drilling operation is expected to take approximately 75 days.

Lundin Norway is operator for both PL338 and PL492 and holds a 65 percent and 40 percent interest respectively in the two licenses.