Equinor drills dry well near Norwegian Sea Norne field

Equinor Energy AS will plug exploration Norwegian Sea well 6607/12-5. The well is dry, with traces of gas, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said in a release Oct. 26.

The exploration well, the first in production license 943, was drilled about 18 km west of Norne field and 220 km west of Sandnessjøen by the Deepsea Stavanger semisubmersible drilling rig in 370 m water depth to a vertical depth of 3,861 m subsea. It was terminated in the Lange formation in the Early Cretaceous.

The objective was to prove petroleum in Cretaceous reservoir rocks in the Lange and Lysing formations, as well as to evaluate reservoir properties. The well encountered reservoir rocks of about 67 m thickness in the Cromer Knoll group, consisting of sandstones with interbedded silt- and claystones with poor to no reservoir quality.

The well was not formation-tested, but extensive data collection has been performed.

Equinor is operator of the license with 30% interest. Partners are DNO Norge AS (30%), Sval Energi AS (30%), and Aker BP ASA (10%).

The rig will now drill well 6507/8-11 S in Norwegian Sea production license 124 in, where Equinor is operator.