Marathon drills dry well in North Sea

Offshore Staff

STAVANGER, Norway -- Marathon Petroleum Norge AS, operator of production licence 311, has drilled a dry well with wildcat 31/1-1. The well is west of the Troll field and northeast of the Oseberg field in the North Sea.

The purpose of the well was to prove petroleum in several levels of sandstone of the Jurassic age.

Rocks with the expected thickness and reservoir qualities were found in the reservoir rocks from the Jurassic age, but they were all water-bearing.

The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 2,895 m (9,498 ft) below sea level, and terminated in the Statfjord formation of the late Jurassic age. The water depth was 341 m (1,119 ft). The well will now be permanently plugged and abandoned.

Well 31/1-1 was drilled byBredford Dolphin, which will now move on to production licence 001B in the North Sea area to drill wildcat well 16/1-9, where Noil Energy ASA is the operator.

02/12/2008