OMV's latest well in the Barents Sea has been classified as dry, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.
The well, 7324/8-2 on production license 537, was drilled about 6km southeast of Wisting oil discovery, about 310km north of Hammerfest, in 394m water depth using the Leiv Eiriksson semisubmersible drilling rig.
OMV hoped to find hydrocarbons in reservoir rocks from the Middle Jurassic to Late Triassic Age (the Stø and Fruholmen formations). A secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in reservoir rocks from the Middle to Late Triassic Age (the Snadd formation).
The well encountered about 15m-thick reservoir rocks in the Stø formation with good reservoir quality and about 55m-thick reservoir rocks in the Fruholmen formation with medium to good reservoir quality. The well also encountered about 10m-thick reservoir rocks in the Snadd formation with good reservoir quality. However, the well was dry.
This is the fourth exploration well in production license 537. The license was awarded in the 20th licensing round in 2009.
Well 7324/8-2 was drilled to a vertical depth of 815m below the sea surface and was terminated in the Snadd formation from the Late Triassic Age.
The Leiv Eiriksson is now scheduled to drill wildcat well 6507/11-11 in production license 591 in the Norwegian Sea, operated by Tullow Oil Norge.