Suncor Energy's latest exploration well close to to the Balder field has been classified as dry by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.
Exploration well 25/10-14 S was drilled on production license 571 near the Balder field offshore Norway.
The well was drilled in the central part of the North Sea, about 5km west of the Balder field and about 200km north-west of Stavanger, close to where the firm drilled another exploration well, 25/10-13 S, last year, which was also dry.
The primary exploration target for the well was to prove petroleum in Paleocene reservoir rocks (the Ty formation). The secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in Lower Jurassic reservoir rocks (the Statfjord group). The well encountered a 22m thick sandstone layer in the Ty formation and 63m of sandstone in the Statfjord group, both of which showed good reservoir properties. But, the well was dry.
Well 25/10-14 S was drilled to a measured depth of 2474m and a vertical depth of 2374m below the sea surface, and was terminated in the Triassic (the Hegre group).
This is the second exploration well in production license 571. The license was awarded in APA 2010.
Water depth at the site is 119m. The well will now be permanently plugged and abandoned.
The well was drilled using the Borgland Dolphin drilling facility.
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