Statoil ASA and partners proved a 38-m gas column in the Nise formation via exploration well 6706/12-3 of the Roald Rygg prospect, encountering “very good” reservoir quality.
Drilled by Transocean Ltd.’s Spitsbergen drilling rig, the well, 7 km west of the Snefrid Nord discovery, reached a vertical depth of 3,296 m in 1,287 m of water, and was terminated in the Kvitnos formation in the Upper Cretaceous.
Snefrid Nord was the first discovery made this spring by Statoil in the Aasta Hansteen area of the Norwegian Sea (OGJ Online, Mar. 18, 2015).
Statoil estimates the volumes in Roald Rygg to be in the range of 12-44 million boe recoverable. The estimated total volumes in the two discoveries correspond to about 25% of the Aasta Hansteen recoverable volumes.
“Statoil has completed a targeted two-well exploration program around Aasta Hansteen, which aimed to test additional potential in the area and make the Aasta Hansteen project more robust,” said Irene Rummelhoff, Statoil senior vice-president, exploration, Norway.
“Both wells—Snefrid Nord and Roald Rygg—have resulted in interesting discoveries, which will now be further evaluated for future tie-in to the Aasta Hansteen infrastructure,” Rummelhoff said. Production from the Aasta Hansteen spar platform is expected to launch in 2017.
Well 6706/12-3 is part of PL602, where earlier this year Statoil increased its equity share through transactions with Rocksource ASA and Atlantic Petroleum Norge AS.
Subject to government approval, the PL602 partnership will consist of Statoil Petroleum AS as operator with 42.5% interest, Petoro AS 20%, Centrica Resources (Norge) AS 20%, Wintershall Norge AS 10%, and Atlantic Petroleum Norge AS 7.5%.
