Gripen Confirms Swedish Shale Discovery

Swedish independent Gripen Gas has confirmed the presence of gas on its Ekeby licence in Sweden, following successful drilling of the prospect.

The onshore licence, which targeted the Alum Shale formation, aimed to appraise the GH-2 discovery that was made in March this year. Four wells were drilled on the prospect, including two step-out wells.

A third well, which was twinned to the GH-2 discovery, was cored to analyse the Alum Shale section, Gripen said, with a further drill stem test carried out on the discovery well GH-2 where commercial rates were obtained.

"Our objectives in this drilling phase were to test the local extent of the gas charged Alum Shale and to obtain a valid test from GH-2," Chairman of Gripen, Torgny Berglund, said. "These were all achieved. Biogenic gas was confirmed in all the wells drilled. The new test on GH-2 confirmed commercial flow rates with good pressure build up in the shut-in periods. We are greatly encouraged by the results and are currently planning our third phase of drilling."

The company also yesterday announced the award of another Alum shale licence, the offshore Sandön exploration licence, located in the same region of Sweden as the Ekeby licence, in Östergötland County.

Gripen Gas says that, following the award, it is now the principal gas explorer in Sweden at 583km2.