Norway: BG Norge Drills a Dry Well in the North Sea

BG Norge AS, operator of production licence 297, is in the process of completing the drilling of wildcat well 1/3-12 S. The well is located about 30 km northwest of the Ekofisk field in the southern part of the North Sea.

The purpose of the well was to prove petroleum in reservoir rocks in the Skagerrak formation from the Late Triassic Age. The well encountered thinner reservoir rocks with poorer than expected reservoir properties, which were water-bearing.

The well is the first exploration well in production licence 297, which was awarded in APA 2003.

Well 1/3-12 S was drilled to a vertical depth of 5820 m below the sea surface, and was terminated in the Skagerrak formation from the Late Triassic Age. The water depth at the site is 70 metres. The well will now be permanently plugged and abandoned.

The drilling activity was carried out using the Rowan Gorilla VI drilling facility, which will now move to the British sector.

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Source: Norwgianpetroleumdirectorate, June 28, 2010