Total group sees more prospects near North Sea oil find

A group led by Total E&P Norge has made a discovery in the North Sea offshore Norway judged to contain 25 million to 75 million bbl of recoverable oil, plans to drill a second exploratory well nearby, and is evaluating other nearby prospects.

The 34/6-2 S well on the Garantiana prospect, the first exploratory well on the PL554 license, encountered oil in the Lower Jurassic Cook formation with good reservoir quality. It flowed at the rate of 4,300 b/d of oil through a 28/64-in. choke on a production test. Total then drilled the 34/6-2 A sidetrack well to appraise the discovery and identify an oil-water contact.

Garantiana is in 384 m of water 30 km northeast of Visund field and 185 km northwest of Bergen. Total E&P Norge is operator of PL 554 with 40% interest. Det norske oljeselskap ASA, Bridge Energy Norge AS, and Svenska Petroleum Exploration have 20% each.