Statoil Makes Gas Discovery Near Asgard Field

Statoil Works on Completion of PL 479 Drilling (Norway)

Statoil Petroleum AS, operator for production licence 479, is in the process of completing the drilling of wildcat well 6506/9-3.

The well was drilled about 5 km north of the Åsgard field in the Norwegian Sea.

The primary exploration goal for the well was to prove petroleum in reservoir rocks of the Middle Jurassic Age (Garn, Ile and Tofte formations). The secondary exploration goal was to prove petroleum in Lower Jurassic reservoir rocks (Ror, Tilje and Åre formations).

“Being located directly north of the Åsgard field, the Smørbukk North discovery could be developed quickly and efficiently through a tie-in to existing infrastructure, providing fast resources and potentially extending the production life of the Åsgard production facilities,” says Astrid Jørgenvåg, vice president operations at Åsgard.

The well encountered a gas/condensate column of about 40 metres in a down-to situation in the Garn formation. In addition, a thin gas/condensate column was encountered in the Ile formation. The reservoir characteristics are good in the Garn formation, while they are somewhat poorer than expected in the Ile formation.

“We are very pleased with having proven the new resources,” says Gro G. Haatvedt, senior vice president exploration Norway in Statoil.

“The three discoveries comprising the Åsgard field were all made in the 1980s. Making a new discovery in the area 30 years later is encouraging and proves the exciting remaining potential on the NCS.”

A preliminary estimate of the size of the discovery in the Garn formation is between 4 and 7.5 million Sm3 of recoverable oil equivalents. Tie-in of the discovery to the Åsgard field will be considered.

The well was not formation-tested, but extensive data acquisition and sampling have been carried out.

This is the first exploration well in production licence 479. The licence was awarded on 29 February 2008 in connection with APA 2007.

The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 4692 metres below the sea surface and completed in the Åre formation in the Lower Jurassic. The sea depth is 302 metres. The well will be permanently plugged and abandoned.

“Smørbukk North was a demanding well to drill, but due to thorough planning and extra HSE focus, the operations have so far been carried out without serious incidents and are currently 21 days ahead of schedule,” says Haatvedt.

Well 6506/9-3 was drilled from the Transocean Leader drilling facility, which will be going to production licence 050ES in the North Sea to drill wildcat well 34/10-54S, where Statoil Petroleum AS is the operator.

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August 19, 2013