Statoil ASA said its Julius exploratory well, drilled in the King Lear area of the Norwegian North Sea, has discovered gas and condensate (OGJ Online, Nov. 7, 2013).
The 2/4-23S was drilled 5,548 m subsea in 68 m of water by Maersk Drilling’s Maersk Gallant jack up rig. The well was drilled in production license 146, about 17 km northeast of Ekofisk field.
Statoil estimates 15-75 million boe recoverable from Julius, which also was drilled to appraise the King Lear gas and condensate discovery in 2012 by the PL 146/PL333 partnership of Statoil and Total E&P Norge.
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said Julius encountered 41 m of gas and condensate-filled sandstone “with moderate reservoir quality” in the Ula formation.
The well also encountered 30 m of water-filled sandstone with poor reservoir quality in the Byrne formation, NPD said. A 20-m gas-condensate column in the Farsund formation confirmed pressure communication with the 2/4-21 King Lear discovery but will not lead to any change in resource estimates.
The King Lear and Julius discoveries “confirm Statoil’s view that even such mature areas of the NCS still have an interesting exploration potential,” said May-Liss Hauknes, North Sea vice-president, exploration.
Statoil said the Julius discovery will be included in the resource base for a future development decision on PL146/PL333.
