Lundin’s Gohta appraisal well comes up dry

Lundin Norway has found only traces of hydrocarbons during drilling ops on an appraisal well of the Gohta discovery located in PL492 in the southern Barents Sea, classifying the well as dry.

Lundin Norway is the operator of PL492 and holds a 40 percent working interest in the license. Partner Aker BP holds the remaining 60 percent stake.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) said on Wednesday that the 7120/1-5 appraisal well on the Gohta discovery was drilled about four kilometers north of the discovery well, about three kilometers east of appraisal well 7120/1-4 S, drilled in 2014, and about 17 kilometers southwest of the Alta discovery.

The Gohta discovery was proven in 2013 in Permian carbonate rocks. Before the latest appraisal well was drilled, the resource estimate for the discovery was between ten and 21 million standard cubic meters of recoverable oil and between five and eight billion standard cubic meters of recoverable gas.

According to the NPD, the objective of the well was to delineate the northern part of the Gohta discovery and to investigate the reservoir quality in Permian carbonate rocks and Permian-Triassic conglomerates.

Well 7120/1-5 encountered about 300 meters of carbonates in the Røye formation with poor reservoir quality. Pressure gradients were not established, and the forecasted Permian-Triassic conglomerates were not encountered. The well was classified as dry, with traces of hydrocarbons.

NPD added that the well was not formation tested, but extensive data acquisition and sampling has been conducted.

Lundin said in a separate statement on Wednesday that this was the fourth well in the 2016/2017 drilling campaign on the Loppa High. It was drilled in a water depth of 344 meters to a vertical depth of 2,502 meters below the sea surface. The well will be permanently plugged and abandoned.

According to the operator, the resource estimate for the discovery will be reduced as a result of the well and an updated resource estimate will be prepared at year’s end taking into account all the new data.

The oil company added that the development of the Gohta discovery was being considered along with the Alta discovery. Lundin’s plans for further delineation of the Alta discovery would not be impacted by the appraisal well results.

The well was drilled by the Leiv Eiriksson rig, which will, upon plugging the well, move some 15 kilometers northeast to spud the Alta appraisal well 7220/11-4, located in production license 609 in the Barents Sea which is also operated by Lundin.