Minor Oil Discovery Northwest of the Snorre Field in the Norwegian North Sea
Thursday 4 June 2015
Lundin Norway AS, operator of production licence 579, is in the process of concluding the drilling of wildcat well 33/2-2 S.
The well was drilled about 40 kilometres northwest of the Snorre field in the North Sea, and 180 kilometres west of Florø.
The primary exploration target for the well was to prove petroleum in Upper and Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks (the Draupne formation and the Brent Group). The secondary exploration target was to prove hydrocarbons in Lower Jurassic (Statfjord Group) and Triassic reservoir rocks (the Lunde formation).
The well encountered oil over an interval of about 173 metres in what was presumably the Triassic Lunde formation, with heterolithic sandstones with poor reservoir quality. No recoverable resources have been estimated at this point.
A formation test was conducted. The production rate was 68 Sm3 oil per flow day through a 24/64-inch nozzle opening. Extensive data acquisition and sampling were also carried out.
The licensees in production licence 579 will assess the discovery with a view toward further follow-up.
This is the first exploration well in production licence 579, which was awarded in APA 2010. Well 33/2-2 S was drilled to a vertical depth of 3498 metres below the sea surface and was terminated in sandstone and shale, presumably belonging to the Alke formation in the Triassic. Water depth at the site is 340 metres. The well will now be permanently plugged and abandoned.
Well 33/2-2 S was drilled by the Bredford Dolphin drilling facility, which will now drill wildcat well 16/4-9 S in production licence 359 in the North Sea, where Lundin Norway AS is the operator.