Aker BP makes small oil discovery south of Gyda field

Aker BP ASA will plug well 2/1-17 S after a minor oil discovery in the southern part of the North Sea was assessed as uncommercial (OGJ Online, Aug. 1, 2019).

The exploration well—the second drilled in PL 019 C—was drilled by the Maersk Interceptor ultraharsh-environment jack up rig 10 km south of Gyda field and 280 km southwest of Stavanger to a vertical depth of 4,322 m and a measured depth of 4,334 m subsea in 66 m of water. The well was terminated in the Tyne Group in the Upper Jurassic.

The primary exploration target for the well was to prove petroleum in Upper Jurassic reservoir rocks (the Ula formation). The secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in deeper reservoir rocks in the Jurassic and Triassic (the Eldfisk, Bryne, and Skagerrak formations).

The primary exploration target was not present in the well. In the secondary exploration target, the Eldfisk formation was encountered with a layer of 5 m of oil-bearing sandstones with good reservoir quality. The oil-water contact was not encountered. The Bryne and Skagerrak formations were not drilled.

Preliminary estimates place the size of the discovery at 500,000-1.5 million standard cu m of recoverable oil equivalent.

The well was not formation-tested but extensive volumes of data have been collected.

The Maersk Interceptor will now drill development wells in PL 001 B in Ivar Aasen field in the North Sea, where Aker BP is operator.