A wildcat well, drilled by Harbour Energy Norge and its partner Stella Maris CCS in the Havstjerne storage project, has confirmed a reservoir that is suitable for injection and storage of carbon dioxide (CO2).
Well 9/6-1 was drilled in the North Sea around 30 kilometers southeast of the Yme platform and around 120 kilometers southwest of Farsund.
Odfjell Drilling’s DeepSea Nordkapp semi-submersible rig was used in the drilling operation.
Well 9/6-1 is the first well drilled in exploration license EXL 006, also known as the Havstjerne development, which was awarded in May 2023. This is the fourth well drilled to investigate potential commercial storage of CO2 on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS).
The data will now be subject to further analysis, and the results will become part of the basis for future decisions regarding investment in the Havstjerne storage project.
Havstjerne development is located in the southern part of the Norwegian Sea, approximately 100 km southeast of Egersund, offering an attractive sailing distance to ports located in Northern Europe.
The license work commitments include drilling of an exploration well in the first quarter of 2025, which will be followed by concept selection for the development of the saline aquifer storage reservoir, targeted for 2025, according to Harbour Energy.
Thereafter, a field development plan would need to be submitted to the Norwegian Ministry of Energy, together with an application for an exploitation license.
Appraisal of the Havstjerne development concepts include evaluation for CO2 ship-based transport to an offshore injection unit and is targeting an injection rate of five mtpa of CO2.
Harbour Energy is the operator of the license with 60% working interest, while Stella Maris CCS holds the remaining 40% stake.