Talisman bites dust in North Sea wildcat

Talisman Energy Norge AS, operator of production licence 672, has concluded the drilling of wildcat well 15/12-24 S, in the North Sea. The well is dry.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) granted Talisman a drilling permit for this well in April 2015.

The well was drilled in the central part of the North Sea about six kilometres north of the Varg field and 220 kilometres southwest of Stavanger.

According to the NPD, the purpose of the well was to prove petroleum in Upper Jurassic reservoir rocks (the Ula and Sandnes formations) and in Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks (the Hugin and Sleipner formations). The well encountered about 195 metres of sandstone mixed with siltstone in the Ula formation, of which 155 metres are sandstone of good to very good reservoir quality. The well also encountered 85 metres of sandstone mixed with siltstone in the Skagerrak formation in Upper Triassic, of which 45 metres are sandstone of generally poor reservoir quality. The well has weak traces of petroleum in sandstone rocks in both the Ula and Skagerrak formations. The well is classified as dry.

Data acquisition and sampling have been carried out.This is the first exploration well in production licence 672. The licence was awarded in APA 2012.

The well was drilled to vertical and measured depths of 3136 and 3141 metres below sea level, respectively, and was terminated in the Skagerrak formation in the Upper Triassic. Water depth at the site is 86 metres. The well has been permanently plugged and abandoned.

Well 15/12-24 S was drilled by the Maersk Giant jack-up drilling rig, which will now start permanent plugging of wells on the Varg field in production licence 038 in the North Sea, where Talisman Energy Norge AS is the operator.

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