Oil found under Dagny field; gas at Snefrid South

Aug. 26, 2008
StatoilHydro has discovered oil and gas in two separate wells on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS): oil under Dagny gas field, and gas in Snefrid South.

Uchenna Izundu
International Editor

LONDON, Aug. 26 -- StatoilHydro has discovered oil and gas in two separate wells on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS): oil under Dagny gas field, and gas in deepwater Snefrid South.

Dagny oil discovery
A "considerable oil column" was confirmed under Dagny gas field, which was discovered more than 30 years ago in the Norwegian North Sea. The oil discovery, holding what StatoilHydro said is an estimated recoverable 100-125 million boe, is 10 km northwest of Sleipner West, and StatoilHydro will consider linking it to Sleipner field.

StatoilHydro drilled well 15/5-7 on Production License 048 and found a 100-m oil column in the Hugin formation below Dagny.

Tim Dodson, senior vice-president for StatoilHydro's explorations on the NCS, said the find suggested that the Sleipner area is still very prospective.

"The discovery is a result of focused efforts to find more hydrocarbons that may be phased in to Sleipner," Dodson said.

The company used the Transocean Winner semisubmersible drilling rig in 119 m of water and completed the well in the Upper Triassic Skagerrak formation 4,037 m below the sea level.

"A side-track is now being considered in order to establish the oil-water contact. The costs of the well are split between PL048 and PL029," StatoilHydro said.

Snefrid South gas find
Gas also has been proved in the Snefrid South prospect near the Luva discovery in the Norwegian Sea, the company said.

The company will develop its estimated 4 billion cu m deepwater Snefrid South gas find along with the Luva gas discovery made by BP PLC in 1997. Luva lies about 240 km west of Bodo (OGJ, Apr. 3, 2006, p.33).

Exploration well 6706/12-1 is on Production Licence PL218 about 290-km west of Sandnessjoen. The well was drilled to TVD 3,925 m below the sea level and completed in the lower parts of the Nise formation in 1,265 m of water. The well will now be permanently plugged and abandoned.

Snefrid South is a 70 m gas column with good reservoir qualities in the Nise formation, the company says.

StatoilHydro used the Transocean Leader semisubmersible rig to drill the well and will proceed to start exploration well 6707/10-2 S on the same production licence.

StatoilHydro (operator) has a 75% stake in PL 218. Its partners are ExxonMobil Corp. 15% and ConocoPhillips 10%.

StatoilHydro also operates the PL048 license, holding an interest of 78.2%, and its partner is Total SA with 21.8%. ExxonMobil Corp. solely operates PL029.

Contact Uchenna Izundu at [email protected]