Equinor makes two near-field discoveries offshore Norway
Equinor and partner ORLEN have discovered gas and condensate in the Sissel prospect in the Norwegian North Sea.
Exploration well 15/8-3 S was the first on production license 1137, and was drilled around 5 km southeast of the Utgard field and 250 km southwest of Stavanger.
Early calculations, according to the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) indicate 6.3 to 28.3 MMboe recoverable.
The semisubmersible Deepsea Atlantic drilled the well in 110 m water depth. It encountered condensate-rich gas in sandstone layers in the upper part of the Hugin formation, with an overall with an overall hydrocarbon column of around 95 m.
In the Norwegian Sea, Equinor has proven oil in the Othello South prospect, 4 km north of the Heidrun field center.
The semisubmersible COSL Innovator drilled well 6507/8-12 S, the first in PL 124 B, in 374 m water depth. Early analysis suggests 0.95 – 12.6 MMboe recoverable.
Othello South could be a candidate for a future development of the northern part of the Heidrun field, the NOD added.
The well intersected multiple oil-bearing sandstone layers in the Åre formation, with an overall oil column of 14 m in the upper part of the formation. Oil-bearing sand encountered at deeper levels was of lesser reservoir quality, with oil volumes here still to be determined.
Having P&A’d the well, the rig will next drill well 6610/7-U-3 in PL 1014 to verify whether shallow gas deposits are present.
OKEA has completed a three-well campaign that started last July on the Brage platform in the Norwegian North Sea. This comprised one exploration well, an appraisal well, and a new producer on the Talisker accumulation that has since come onstream.
Partner DNO International said the 10,223-km long Talisker exploration well had led to commercial oil discoveries in the Cook and Statfjord formations, with combined recoverable resources estimated at 16 to 33 MMboe.
DNO added that the semisubmersible Deepsea Yantai had competed development drilling for the Bestla tieback to the Brage field center in 129 days.
The campaign included successful appraisal of the West Segment, and OKEA’s first multilateral well. All the new wells have been suspended ahead of installation of Xmas trees this summer.
DNO has also participated in two small recent discoveries offshore Norway: Tyrihans Øst in PL1121 in the Norwegian Sea (1.8 MMboe) and Camilla Nord in the Vega Unit (2.2-4.7 MMboe). Both are said to be potential tie-back candidates to existing production infrastructure.