Draupne wildcat proves light oil

Offshore Staff

STAVANGER -- Noil Energy ASA, operator of production licence 001 B, has proved light oil with a small gas cap in Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks with wildcat well 16/1-9, northeast of the 15/3-1 S Gudrun discovery in the North Sea.

The secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in the Paleocene, which was dry. The discovery will be mapped in detail prior to planning a potential appraisal well to determine the size of the discovery, as well as to obtain additional reservoir data.

This well is the third exploration well in production licence 001 B, which was originally awarded in the first licensing round in 1965 and subsequently partitioned in 1999.

The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 2,511 m (98,858 ft) below the sea surface, and was concluded in the Skagerrak formation in the Upper Triassic. Water depth at the site is 111 m (4,370 ft).

Well 16/1-9 was drilled byBredford Dolphin, which will now proceed to production licence 373 S in the northern North Sea to drill wildcat well 34/3-1 S operated by BG Norge.

04/16/2008