Offshore staff
STAVANGER, Norway -- Statoil and partners have made a gas discovery in the Pingvin prospect in the Barents Sea.
Discovery well 7319/12-1, drilled by the ultra-deepwater semisubmersibleTransocean Spitsbergen, proved a 49-ft (15-m) gas column in the well path. Statoil estimates the volumes of the discovery to be in the range of 30-120 MMboe. The company currently assesses the find as non-commercial.
“Pingvin is the first well drilled in PL713 – a large frontier area northwest of Johan Castberg awarded in the 22nd concession round. For a discovery in this area to be commercially viable it needs to be an oil accumulation of a significant size. A gas discovery does not have commercial value at present,” said Dan Tuppen, vice president exploration Barents Sea and Norwegian Sea.
"On the positive side, it is encouraging that the first well drilled in this unexplored area has proven hydrocarbons in sandstones. This indicates that we have both a reservoir and a working hydrocarbon system in the area, and creates a good basis for further subsurface work in the license.”
The well is located in PL713. Statoil is the operator with a 40% interest. Partners include RN Nordic Oil (20%), North Energy ASA (20%), and Edison International Norway Branch (20%).
09/26/2014
