Aker BP ASA and partners will evaluate a gas discovery southwest of Skarv field in the Norwegian Sea together with nearby prospects regarding further follow-up. Preliminary estimates place the discovery at 1.0-2.4 billion s cu m of recoverable gas. The well has been temporarily plugged.
Exploration well 6506/5-1 S, the first in Aker-operated production license 1008, was drilled by Odfjell Drilling Ltd.’s Deepsea Nordkapp dynamically positioned harsh-environment semisubmersible drilling rig 50 km southwest of Skarv field and 210 km west of Brønnøysund to 3,225 m measured depth and 3,166 m vertical depth subsea. It was terminated in the Lange formation in the Lower Cretaceous. Water depth is 409 m (OGJ Online, Dec. 18, 2019).
The objective of the well was to prove petroleum in Upper Cretaceous reservoir rocks (the Lysing formation).
The well encountered a total gas column of 15 m in the Lysing formation, of which 10 m of sandstones of very good reservoir quality. Deeper in the formation, about 25 m of net water-bearing reservoir rocks were encountered, mainly of moderate reservoir quality.
The well was not formation-tested, but extensive data acquisition and sampling have been carried out.
The Deepsea Nordkapp drilling facility will now drill observation well 25/4-K-7 H on Alvheim field in the central part of the North Sea, where Aker BP is operator.