Denmark: Noreco's Luna Comes Up Dry

Noreco has announced a disappointing result on its Luna-1X well in Denmark, as the well has failed to encounter any hydrocarbons.

Noreco, the operator of the exploration well, began drilling on the well last month. The company was targeting between 196 million and 490 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) of expected gross resources at the prospect. However, it said today that it has come up dry with no resources encountered.

The resources were targeted in the 1/11 Licence with the exploration well drilled to 2,250 metres. It was expected that the Rotliegendes reservoir was present at the drill site, but operations began with uncertainty.

"Uncertainty still exists however on which seismic event represents the top reservoir and where the pinch out occurs," partner in the project Xtract Energy said last month. "In addition to the uncertainty on the pinch out position, there is a possibility that the Rotliegendes does not, in fact, pinch out but continues up dip into Lead A.  It is therefore possible that Luna and Lead A are connected and represent one feature."

Noreco says it is now in the process of completing the well but did not reveal any next steps in activity.

Noreco is the majority shareholder on the well as well as the operator with a 47 per cent stake. Xtract's subsidiary Elko Energy holds a 33 per cent stake while the Danish North Sea Fund holds the remaining 20 per cent stake.