Statoil Makes Gas Discovery in Barents Sea

Norway’s Statoil has made a gas discovery in the Kramsnø prospect in the Barents Sea, confirming the company’s interest in the area around Johan Castberg field.

The sixth well drilled in production licence 532 found between two and four billion standard cubic metres of recoverable gas. The well’s primary exploration target was to prove petroleum in Stø, Nordmela and Tubåen formations.

“We are approaching the end of the current drilling program around the Johan Castberg field. Unfortunately, out of the four wells drilled to date only one has resulted in an oil discovery. The last prospect we will test in this exploration campaign is Drivis, and we will commence drilling operations right after the completion of Kramsnø,” says Irene Rummelhoff, senior vice president exploration Norway. 

Statoil is operator for production licence PL532 with an ownership share of 50%. The licence partners are Eni Norge AS (30%) and Petoro AS (20%).

According to another note, the well was drilled to a vertical depth of 3,209 metres below the sea surface.