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Offshore staff

STAVANGER, Norway -- StatoilHydro has proven gas in the Snefrid structure west of the Luva gas field in the Norwegian Sea, said Exploration VP Tim Dodson at ONS today. The well, drilled by the semisubmersible Transocean Leader in 1,265 m (4,150 ft) of water, encountered good quality, dry gas.

The rig has since moved southeast to drill another prospect, Haklang. Results are expected in November. "We have very high hopes for Haklang," said Dodson, "which according to the seismic is half the size of Luva."

BP discovered Luna, which has estimated reserves of 35 bcm, in 1997. StatoilHydro took over operatorship last year. Shell has another large discovery in the area, but there is no export infrastructure in this remote region, northwest of the town of Sandnessjoen. "We have to prove more volumes before we can look at a development," said Dodson.

Elsewhere in the Norwegian Sea, StatoilHydro has made seven further gas discoveries this year. "In general, the volumes have not been large," he added, "but that's not the driver.

"These reserves are highly profitable, as the production infrastructure is in place. Also, we have been looking for gas with a low CO2 content to dilute the wellstream from Aasgard." Gas from the Marulk, Alve and Tilje fields will likely be sent though the Aasgard transportation system, he said, following processing at the Norne complex.

In the Barents Sea, the company has completed four exploration wells this year, and it plans to drill two more. "These are high risk, high reward wells - we have proven oil and gas in three of them, although not in the volumes hoped for. But we will follow up with an appraisal well on one of the finds.

"We and the industry in general haven't got the right answers yet for the Barents Sea, but we're moving towards that with these gas discoveries," said Dodson.

08/26/2008