Vår Energi AS confirmed a North Sea oil and gas discovery in production license (PL) 027 in the North Sea and a development project is under way. The combined King and Prince exploration wells proved successful with estimated recoverable volumes of 60-135 MMboe. The discovery is considered commercial, and partners will assess tie-in to existing infrastructure in the Balder area.
The wells, the 10-12 in the license, were drilled by the Scarabeo 8 drilling rig about 6 km north of Balder field, 3 km west of the Ringhorne platform, and 165 km west of Haugesund. Water depth at the site is 128 m.
The primary target for wildcat well 25/8-20 S was to prove petroleum in the Eiriksson formation from the Early Jurassic age and the Late Triassic Skagerrak formation. The secondary target was to prove petroleum in the Hermod formation of Paleogene age.
The well was drilled to respective vertical and measured depths of 2,374 and 2,699 m below sea level. It was terminated in the Skagerrak formation. It encountered an oil column of about 30 m in Skagerrak, of which 10 m of sandstone with moderate to good reservoir quality. The oil-water contact was not proven. The well encountered a total of about 45 m of water-bearing sandstone with very good to extremely good reservoir quality in the Eiriksson formation. In the Hermod formation, the well encountered 50 m of water-bearing sandstone with extremely good reservoir quality.
The primary target for wildcat well 25/8-20 B was to prove petroleum in the injectite sands from the Paleogene age (the Horda, Balder and Sele formation) and the Skagerrak formation in a nearby fault segment to well 25/8-20 S.
The well was drilled to respective vertical and measured depths of 2,353 and 2,664 m below sea level and was terminated in the Skagerrak formation. It encountered a gas column of about 30 m and an oil column of 55 m in Eocene injectite sands, of which 10 m was sandstone of extremely good reservoir quality. The oil-water contact was encountered about 1,780 m below sea level. The well also encountered oil in sandstone intervals of poor to moderate quality in the upper part of Skagerrak, which has a gross thickness of 95 m. The oil-water contact was not proven. Pressure data in the water zone indicates communication in the Skagerrak formation with 25/8-20 S.
The primary target for appraisal well 25/8-20 C was to prove petroleum and study the spread of the reservoir to injectite sands from the Paleogene age.
The well was drilled to respective vertical and measured depths of 1,880 and 2,026 m below sea level and was terminated in the Sele formation from the Paleocene age. It encountered a gas column of about 40 m and an oil column of about 55 m in Eocene injectite sands, where about 35 m was massive sandstone with extremely good reservoir quality. The gas-oil and oil-water contacts were encountered at the same depth as in 25/8-20 B.
The wells were not formation-tested, but extensive data acquisition and sampling have been performed. The wells have been permanently plugged.
The drilling rig will visit the shipyard in Ølen before it drills development well 7122/7-D-2 H in PL 229 in the Barents Sea, where Vår Energi AS is operator.
Vår Energi is operator of PL 027 (90%) with partner Mime Petroleum AS (10%).