Centrica Resources Norge AS, operator of production license 405, has announced that exploration wells 8/10-5 S and 8/10-5 A are dry. The wells were drilled approximately 13km southeast of the Ula field, in the southern sector of the North Sea.
The purpose of the wells was to prove petroleum in Upper Jurassic reservoir rocks (the Ula formation) in a segment east of the 8/10-4 S oil discovery (Butch), encountered in the same production license in 2011. Wells 8/10-5 S and 8/10-5 A encountered 45m and 50m, respectively, of sandstone in the Ula formation of good reservoir quality.
Extensive data collection and sampling were carried out, which will be used in the further development of the nearby 8/10-4 S discovery.
These are the fourth and fifth exploration wells drilled in production licence 405, awarded in APA 2006. Wells 8/10-5 S and 8/10-5 A were drilled to vertical depths of 2750m and 2263m below the sea surface, respectively, and were completed in the Zechstein group in the Permian age. Water depth is 66m. The wells will be plugged and abandoned.
The wells were drilled by the Mærsk Giant drilling facility, which will now drill exploration well 8/10-6 S in a segment south of the 8/10-4 S oil discovery in the same production license.