Equnor proves oil in Norwegian Sea Othello South prospect

Equinor has proven oil in in the Othello South prospect in the Norwegian Sea. The operator and its license partners will assess the discovery with a view toward further developing the northern part of Heidrun field, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate said in a release Jan. 19.

Wildcat well 6507/8-12 S, in production license 124 B, tested the prospect 4 km north of Heidrun field and 240 km west of Sandnessjøen.

Preliminary estimates indicate the size of the discovery is 0.15-2 million std cu m of recoverable oil equivalent (0.95–12.6 MMboe).

Well 6507/8-12 S was drilled by the Cosl Innovator drilling rig to a vertical depth of 2,477 m subsea. It was terminated in Red Beds from the Triassic. Water depth at the site is 374 m. The well will be permanently plugged.

The well's objective was to prove petroleum in reservoir rocks from the Early Jurassic (Åre formation) and Late Triassic (Grey Beds).

The well encountered multiple oil-bearing sandstone layers in the Åre formation, which has an overall thickness of 208 m. The well proved an oil column totaling about 14 m in the upper part of the Åre formation, in sandstone with good to very good reservoir quality.

In deeper parts of the formation, the well encountered oil-bearing sand with poor to moderate reservoir quality. The volume has not yet been estimated for this level, which is considered to be a potential upside. The oil-water contact was not encountered.

The well was not formation-tested, but extensive data acquisition and sampling were carried out.

The rig is now moving on to drill well 6610/7-U-3 in production license 1014 in the Norwegian Sea. The objective of the well is to verify potential shallow gas deposits.