ConocoPhillips has made a minor oil discovery in the Norwegian part of the North Sea, near the Balder field.
The company’s Norwegian subsidiary, ConocoPhillips Skandinavia, made the find while drilling the 25/7-8 S exploration well in the production license 917 using Transocean’s Leiv Eiriksson semi-submersible drilling rig.
The primary exploration target for the well was to prove petroleum in Lower Jurassic and Upper Triassic reservoir rocks (the Nansen, Eiriksson and Skagerrak Formations). The secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks (the Hugin and Sleipner Formations).
In the primary exploration target, the well encountered several oil and gas-bearing intervals with independent columns. In the Nansen Formation, there is a total of 28 meters of sandstone with good reservoir quality, of which 5 meters are oil-bearing. The Eiriksson Formation has a total of 11 meters of sandstone with moderate reservoir quality, of which 6 meters are oil and gas-bearing.
In the Skagerrak Formation, there is a total of 13 meters of sandstone with moderate reservoir quality, of which 8 meters are gas-bearing. In the secondary exploration target, three thin gas-bearing sandstone layers totaling 3 meters with moderate reservoir properties were encountered in the Sleipner Formation. In the Hugin Formation, sandstone layers were encountered with moderate reservoir quality and a total thickness of 25 meters.
The Hugin Formation is water-bearing. Preliminary estimates place the size of the discovery at between 1 and 5 million standard cubic meters (Sm3) of recoverable oil equivalent. The licensees will assess the well results with a view to further exploration in the license.
The 25/7-8 S was drilled to respective measured and vertical depths of 3225 and 3188 meters below sea level. The water depth at the site is 126 meters.
This is the first exploration well in production license 917. ConocoPhillips will now move the rig to drill the wildcat well 25/7-9 S in the same offshore block.