Vår Energi ASA drilled a dry well on the Jotun Deep prospect in North Sea production license (PL) 1203, 20 km northwest of the Ringhorne installation and 190 km west of Stavanger.

The well, the first in the license, was drilled by the COSL Pioneer rig in 127 m of water to 3,417 m TVD. It terminated in what is presumed to be the Smith Bank formation.

The well's primary exploration target was to prove petroleum in the Statfjord Group in the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic. The secondary target was to prove petroleum in the Skagerrak formation in the Late Triassic, in addition to proving petroleum in underlying layers.

Well 25/8-24 S encountered a reservoir in the upper Statfjord Group with a total thickness of 81 m, 64 m of which were sandstone with good reservoir quality. The reservoir was aquiferous. The lower Statfjord Group was encountered with a total thickness of 53 m, 23 m of which were sandstone with good reservoir quality. The reservoir was aquiferous.

In the secondary exploration target, the well encountered the Skagerrak formation with a total thickness of 161 m. The formation contains two thicker sandstone layers with moderate reservoir properties, in addition to multiple thin sandstone layers with poor reservoir properties. The reservoir was aquiferous.

Under the Skagerrak formation, the well encountered rocks with poor reservoir quality, most likely the Smith Bank formation in the Early to Middle Triassic. Weak hydrocarbon indications in the potential Smith Bank formation cannot be ruled out.

The well was not formation-tested, but extensive volumes of data were collected. The well has been permanently plugged.

Vår Energi is operator at PL 1203 (30%) with partners Equinor Energy AS (30%), DNO Norge AS (20%), and Petoro AS (20%).