Norway: Statoil Drills Important Delineation Wells in North Sea

Results from two wells drilled by Statoil in association with the Dagny and Ermintrude discoveries in the North Sea will be important in choosing a development concept and further planning.

An exploration well on the Dougal prospect found only traces of hydrocarbons in the Hugin formation, and has been classified as dry.

However, a subsequent appraisal well on Dagny Central encountered a 30-metre-thick gas column in the same formation.

“These wells aimed to test the production properties of Hugin reservoir rocks, and to prove more reserves for Dagny/Ermintrude,” says Svein Olav Høyland, who heads work on this development.

“Testing and data gathering have been in line with our plans, but it was disappointing that the well on Dougal in production licence 303 failed to prove additional reserves.”

The exploration well was drilled four kilometres south-east of the original Dagny discovery, while the appraisal well which proved gas lay two kilometres to the south-east.

“Both these wells provide important geological and technical reservoir data for the Dagny/Ermintrude project, which is in the conceptual development phase,” explains Høyland.

“We’ll now be taking a little time to evaluate this information in order to assess how it affects the choice of concept and timetable.”

Preliminary estimates suggest that a Dagny/Ermintrude field development would embrace 125-250 million barrels of oil equivalent.

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Source: Statoil, March 9, 2011;