Equinor drills dry hole in Barents Sea Vikingskipet prospect

Equinor Energy AS drilled a dry well on the Vikingskipet prospect in Barents Sea production license (PL) 1236, about 190 km west of Hammerfest and about 140 km southwest of Snøhvit field.

Wildcat well 7018/5-2, the first exploration in the license, was drilled by the COSL Prospector rig in 310 m of water to a vertical depth of 1,880 m subsea, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate reported. The well was terminated in the Tubåen formation in the Lower Jurassic. The well's primary exploration target was to prove petroleum in Lower Jurassic reservoir rocks in the upper part of the formation.

The secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in Middle Jurassic to Upper Triassic reservoir rocks in the Nordmela formation, the lower part of the Tubåen formation, and the Fruholmen formation.

The secondary targets in the lower Tubåen and Fruholmen formations were not reached. Operational challenges during drilling in the Stø and Nordmela formations resulted in a technical sidetrack.

In connection with the primary exploration target, the well encountered the Tubåen formation with a total thickness of 104 m, 25 m of which were sandstone layers with poor to moderate reservoir quality.

In connection with the secondary exploration target, the well encountered the Nordmela formation with a total thickness of 643 m, 60 m of which were sandstone layers with poor to moderate reservoir quality.

The well also encountered the Stø formation with an overall thickness of 272 m, 233 m of which were sandstone layers.

The well has been plugged.

Equinor is operator of PL 1236 (50%) with partners Vår Energi ASA (30%) and Petoro AS (20%).