RWE Hits Gas Close to Heidrun Field

RWE Dea Norge has hit gas in the Norwegian Sea, with the discovery of between 4 and 13 billion standard cubic metres of gas close to the Heidrun field.

The discovery was made following the drilling of a wildcat well on production licence 435, using the West Alpha drilling facility. The discovery was made in close proximity to two existing gas discoveries: 15 kilometres from the Heidrun field and 3.5 kilometres northwest of the 6507/7-14 S gas discovery, made under the same licence in 2010.

The licence was first granted to the shareholders in 2006. RWE is the operator of the licence with a 40 per cent stake. OMV, Maersk and Edison International Norway Branch each hold a 20 per cent stake in the licence.

A statement from the Norwegian Petroleum Dictorate says the discovery has not been formation tested, but extensive data has been collected and analysis performed on sampling. This information will now form the basis for any production plans from the two discoveries in the licence.

The gas was discovered in a column of 140 metres, in sandstones in the in the Garn and Ile formation. The well was drilled to a total depth of 4,534 metres. Small amounts of gas were also observed in the Tilje and Lange formations.

The well will now be plugged and abandoned with the West Alpha drilling facility will now be moved to another licence, licence 437, to be used in Centrica's wildcat drilling there.