Spirit Energy drills dry well near Johan Castberg field in the Barents Sea

Spirit Energy Norway AS has plugged well 7321/8-2 S in the Barents Sea. The well, drilled about 110 km north of Johan Castberg field and about 310 km north of Hammerfest, is dry (OGJ Online, May 12, 2020).

The exploration well, the first in production license 719, was drilled by the Leiv Eiriksson drilling facility to a measured depth of 1,874 m and a vertical depth of 1,777 m subsea. It was terminated in the Snadd formation in the Upper Triassic. Water depth at the site is 466 m.

The primary exploration target for the well was to prove petroleum in Middle Jurassic to Upper Triassic reservoir rocks (the Stø, Fruholmen, and Snadd formations). The secondary exploration target was data acquisition to improve understanding of potential reservoir rocks in the Lower Cretaceous (the Kolje formation).

In the primary exploration target, the well encountered the Stø formation with a thickness of about 30 m, with water-bearing sandstone layers of 20 m, mainly with moderate reservoir quality. The Fruholmen formation was about 120-m thick, with several water-bearing sandstone layers in the upper part of the formation, totaling 30 m, mainly with moderate to poor reservoir quality.

About 80 m of the upper part of the Snadd formation was drilled, but the only thing encountered was a water-bearing sandstone layer, 2-m thick and with good reservoir quality.

The secondary exploration target encountered traces of petroleum in silt-fine sands in the Lower Cretaceous (the Kolje formation).

Data acquisition has been carried out.

The rig will now drill wildcat well 16/1-33 S in Spirit-operated production license 780 in the North Sea.

Spirit Energy Norway AS is operator of production license 719 with 50% interest. Partners are Lukoil Overseas North Shelf AS 30%, and Aker BP ASA 20%.