Cairn Suffers Second Dry Well Off Norway

UK-based Cairn Energy has come up dry at a second well in the Norwegian Sea, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) stated in August 5.

The wildcat was sunk 13 km northeast of Equinor’s Norne oilfield at licence 842, and reached a 1,676-metre depth, the NPD said in a report. It was targeting potential hydrocarbons in Upper Jurassic rock.

“There were no traces of petroleum in the well. The well is dry,” the directorate said, noting that the borehole would now be permanently plugged and abandoned.

The well was Cairn’s first at licence 842. The company suffered similar disappointment at a maiden well at licence 785, also in the Norwegian Sea, which was revealed as dry last month. Both boreholes were completed by the Transocean Arctic rig, which will now move on to drill production wells at the nearby Dvalin field operated by Germany’s Wintershall Dea.