By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, July 20 -- Statoil said Friday it has an oil discovery on production license 134B about 10 km north of its Kristin field in the Norwegian Sea.
Saipem's Scarabeo 5 drilled exploration well 6506/11-7 to 4,942 m below sea level in 356 m of water and encountered oil under high pressure in Jurassic sands. More than 100 m of cores were retrieved and extensive logging was conducted. A production test recovered light oil from two reservoirs.
The well was spudded Jan. 15 and the rig was due to leave the site at the end of July.
Ørjan Birkeland, manager of Statoil's Halten/Nordland exploration sector, said, "This discovery is important for understanding and developing the area. It will also be significant for future exploration."
Statoil has 48% of the license, Agip SPA 30%, Norsk Hydro AS 12%, and TotalFinaElf SA 10%.
