StatoilHydro hits pay with North Sea appraisal well 34/8-14 C

Offshore staff

STAVANGER -- StatoilHydro has hit pay with appraisal well 34/8-14 C, and is in the process of concluding appraisal well 34/8-14 D on the 34/8-14 S discovery (called Pan/Pandora) just south of the Visund field in the North Sea.

Well 34/8-14 C was drilled to a vertical depth of 3,008 m (9,869 ft) below the sea surface, and was concluded in the Dunlin Group in the Middle Jurassic. Well 34/8-14 D was drilled to a vertical depth of 2,941 m (9,649 ft) below the sea surface and was concluded in the Dunlin Group in the Lower Jurassic. The water depth in the area is 292 m (958 ft).

The exploration target for well 34/8-14 C was to establish the oil-water contact in the northern segment of the discovery. The well encountered a 6-m (20-ft) oil column in Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks, which gave a shallower oil-water contact than previously determined, the company says.

The target for exploration well 34/8-14 D was to delineate the discovery in 34/8-14 S towards the east. The well encountered a 19-m (62-ft) oil column in Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks, delineating the discovery.

The appraisal wells show that the size of the discovery falls within a range of uncertainty from 3.5 to 7.5 MMcmoe. The company is considering development of the discovery via the Visund field. Neither of the wells were formation-tested, but extensive data collection and sampling have been carried out, the company says.

Appraisal wells 34/8-14 C and 34/8-14 D are the 20th and 22nd exploration wells in production license 120. The license was awarded in licensing round 10 A in 1985.

02/06/2009