Statoil has second large oil find in Barents Sea

Jan. 9, 2012
A Statoil-led combine has made a second giant oil and gas discovery in the Barents Sea off Norway at Havis, close to the group’s early 2011 Skrugard discovery on the same license.

A Statoil-led combine has made a second giant oil and gas discovery in the Barents Sea off Norway at Havis, close to the group’s early 2011 Skrugard discovery on the same license.

Statoil sees 400-600 million bbl of oil equivalent recoverable from the two discoveries, including 200-300 million boe from Havis (OGJ Online, Jan. 5, 2012).

The 7220/7-1 well drilling the Havis prospect on PL532 proved a 48-m gas column and a 128-m oil column. Havis is 7 km southwest of Skrugard on a separate structure. The Havis well went to 2,200 m vertical depth below sea level in 365 m of water.

Helge Lund, president and chief executive officer of Statoil, said, “Havis is our second high impact oil discovery in the Barents Sea in 9 months. The discovery’s volume and reservoir properties make it Skrugard’s twin. Skrugard and Havis open up a new petroleum province in the north.”

Erik Strand Tellefsen, vice-president for Skrugard development, said, “The Havis discovery boosts the development of Skrugard as a versatile new center with processing and transport capacity. We are about to realize the Barents Sea as a core area on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.”

The group will drill a Skrugard appraisal well and assess further potential in the Arctic license. Lund noted that Statoil has been exploring the Barents Sea for more than 30 years and has been involved in 88 of the 92 exploratory wells drilled there.

PL532 interests are Statoil operator with 50%, Eni Norge AS 30%, and Petoro AS 20%.