Conoco Wildcat Finds Oil, Gas off Norway
US major ConocoPhillips has found oil and gas with the first well to be drilled in production licence 782 S, the offshore regulator Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said November 12.
Well 25/7-7 was drilled about 15 km northwest of the Balder field in the central part of the North Sea and 205 km west of Stavanger.
In the primary exploration target, it found two separate gas/condensate and oil-bearing intervals, with sandy layers in the Draupne Formation totalling about 25 m with reservoir properties varying from poor to very good. No hydrocarbon/ water contact was encountered. Thin water-bearing siltstone layers were encountered in the secondary exploration target in the Heather Formation.
Preliminary estimates place the size of the discovery between 1mn and 10mn m3 of recoverable oil equivalent. The licensees will further assess the well result with regard to delineation/profitability, as well as investigation of nearby prospects.
The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 4705 metres below sea level, and it was terminated in the Heather Formation in the Middle Jurassic. The Leiv Eiriksson drilling facility will now drill another wildcat well, this one in production licence 917, where ConocoPhillips is also the operator.