Aker BP ASA discovered oil in the central North Sea, but initial assessments show the discovery is not profitable at the present time, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate reported Feb. 10.
Wildcat well 25/10-17 S was drilled by the Scarabeo 8 rig 12 km north of Ivar Aasen field and 187 km southwest of Haugesund in 116 m of water. Preliminary estimates place the size of the discovery at 0.5-1.4 million std cu m of recoverable oil equivalent.
The well, the first exploration in production license (PL) 867/B, was drilled to a vertical depth of 4,057 m subsea. It was terminated in the Skagerrak formation in the Upper Triassic in the Hugin reservoir.
The primary exploration target was to prove petroleum in Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks in the Hugin and Sleipner formations (OGJ Online, Jan. 13, 2023). The secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in the Skagerrak formation from the Triassic.
The well encountered a 3-m oil column in the Hugin formation totaling 98 m, 80 m of which was sandstone of moderate reservoir quality. The oil-water contact was encountered at 3,654 m subsea. In addition, residual oil was encountered both over and under the oil column in the Hugin and Sleipner formations. The Skagerrak formation was water-bearing.
The well was not formation-tested, but data acquisition and sampling were carried out. The well will now be permanently plugged.
Scarabeo 8 will now drill wildcat well 16/1-25 S in PL 1141 in the North Sea, where Aker BP is operator.
Aker BP is operator at PL 867/B with 80% interest. Lime Petroleum holds 20%.
