Nautical Petroleum believes the Kraken heavy oil field in UK North Sea block 9/2b could be a significant accumulation.
Offshore staff
LONDON, UK --Nautical Petroleum believes the Kraken heavy oil field in UK North Sea block 9/2b could be a significant accumulation.
The company has just completed an appraisal well (9/2b-2) on Kraken, which was discovered by Occidental in 1985. The well was drilled 2.7 km (1.7 mi) north of the discovery location, and encountered oil-bearing Palaeocene Heimdal sands at a higher elevation.
Pressure measurements suggest the reservoir sands are in communication with the Heimdal oil reservoir intersected by the first well (9/2-1A).
Well 9/2b-2 also encountered oil down to a level 168-ft (51.2 m) deeper, giving a hydrocarbon column of at least 252-ft (76.8 m). Initial analysis of the samples and the downhole pressure gradients indicate that the oil is lighter (18.4deg API) than a poor quality sample from the discovery well, and much lighter than the nearby Bressay field, operated by StatoilHydro.
Nautical plans to integrate data from the well with reprocessed 3D seismic and newly acquired high resolution 2D seismic to determine a location for future appraisal drilling.
