Aker BP discovers more oil offshore Norway

March 2, 2018
Aker BP ASA encountered a 10-m oil column in a 40-m thick sandstone layer with its 24/9-12 S wildcat on Production License (PL) 340 drilled 2 km north of Boyla field, 26 km southwest of Alvheim field, and 200 km northwest of Stavanger.

Aker BP ASA encountered a 10-m oil column in a 40-m thick sandstone layer with its 24/9-12 S wildcat on Production License (PL) 340 drilled 2 km north of Boyla field, 26 km southwest of Alvheim field, and 200 km northwest of Stavanger.

The sandstones have been interpreted as injectites in the Eocene Hordaland group with good reservoir properties, and the well encountered oil-water contact. Three thin, oil-bearing, and partially cemented sandstone layers totaling 5 m were encountered higher up in the Hordaland group. These sandstones were remobilized sand from the Upper Paleocene Heimdal and Hermod formations.

In the secondary exploration target, the wildcat well encountered about 50 m of water-bearing sandstone in the underlying Hermod formation with good to very good reservoir properties.

Aker BP also completed appraisal well 24/9-12 A, drilling 850 m southwest of the discovery well. The well’s objective was to delineate the discovery and obtain information for potential placement of a development well.

Exploration well 24/9-12 S was drilled to a measured depth of 2,285 m below the sea surface and was terminated in the Paleocene Heimdal formation. Appraisal well 24/9-12 A was drilled to a measured depth 3,000 m below the sea surface and was terminated in the Paleocene Hermod formation. Water depth for both wells was 120 m. The appraisal well encountered a 30-m oil column in reservoir sandstone layers in the Hordaland group with very to extremely good reservoir properties. The oil-water contact was not encountered. Higher up in the Hordaland group, four thin gas-bearing sandstone layers totaling 5 m and with very good reservoir properties were also encountered.

Preliminary estimates indicate the discovery contains 5-10 million cu m of recoverable oil. The licensees are considering a tie-in of the discovery to existing infrastructure in the Alvheim area (OGJ Online, May 14, 2014). Aker BP said extensive data acquisition and sampling have been carried out, but the wells have not yet been formation-tested.

PL 340 was awarded in APA 2004, and these wells are the fourth and fifth exploration wells drilled.

Both wells have been permanently plugged and abandoned. The Transocean Arctic drilling rig was used for both wells, and it will drill wildcat well 34/2-5 S in PL 790 in the northern North Sea where Aker BP is the operator.

Contact Tayvis Dunnahoe at [email protected].