LONDON�Norway's Norsk Hydro AS confirmed Monday that reserves at its Oseberg Øst development may increase 15 million bbl following an oil discovery in the Norwegian North Sea field at well 30/6-E-5.
The find, according to a Hydro spokesman, was made after the exploration well was extended 500m into the Beta Sadel North geological structure of the Dunlin formation, reaching a TD of 5,490 m. Production tests will take "some weeks."
Drilled from Oseberg Øst's integrated drilling, accommodation and production platform, the well also proved oil deposits "in several intervals" in the Brent.
Hydro's offshore manager for the field, Lars Petter Lundahl, said Friday that exploring from existing infrastructure was "a highly cost-effective way to do the work," noting that the oil company plans to drill "a number of such wells in the Oseberg area in the future."
Output from Oseberg Øst, aided by water and gas injection, was 75,000 b/d. Production, which is processed at the field platform, is piped 25 km to Oseberg Field Centre for second and third stage processing, before being moved through the Oseberg Transport System pipeline to the onshore Sture oil terminal operated by Hydro.
Total recoverable reserves for the field, which came on stream in April 1999, were first estimated at 145 million bbl of oil.
Owners are Hydro (operator) with 19.6%, Statoil AS with 14%, TotalFinaElf SA with 14%, and ExxonMobil Corp. with 7%. Norway�s direct financial interest in is 45.4%.