The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate reported Statoil Petroleum AS made a natural gas discovery in the Barents Sea about 40 km northeast of the Johan Castberg oil discovery (OGJ Online, June 30, 2014).
Preliminary estimations of recoverable gas are 1-2 billion standard cu m. NPD said the 7220/2-1 well in production license 714 was not formation tested.
The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 1,554 m below the sea surface and was terminated in the Snadd formation. Water depth is 429 m.
The well encountered a gas column of about 85 m in the Sto and Nordmella formations with reservoir quality “ranging from very good to excellent.” The Snadd formation had “more varied” reservoir properties, but is an acquifer, NPD said.
The 7220/2-1 is the first exploration well in PL 714, which was awarded in the 22nd licensing round in 2013.
It was drilled by the Transocean Ltd.’s Spitsbergen harsh-environment, ultradeepwater semisubmersible rig, which will drill the Statoil-operated 7227/10-1 in PL 230.
