OMV strikes Barents Sea oil

OMV (Norge) has made an oil dioscvery on the 7324/7-2 Hanssen well, in production license 537, in the Barents Sea. 

The Hanssen discovery was made about 7km northwest of the 7324/8-1 Wisting Central oil discovery and about 315km north of Hammerfest. It was drilled using the Transocean Barents semisubmersible drilling rig (pictured).

Read more: OMV discovers oil at Wisting

The Hanssen well is the third well drilled in PL537, which was awarded in the 20th licensing round in 2009. The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 1679m below the sea surface and terminated in the Snadd Formation of Middle Triassic age. Water depth is 417.5m. 

The main objective of the well was to prove hydrocarbons in Middle Jurassic to Late Triassic reservoir rocks (Stø, Nordmela and Fruholmen Formations), with the secondary objectives in Late to Middle Triassic reservoir rocks (Snadd formation). 

The well encountered a 20-25m gross oil column in the main target (Stø Formation), which showed good reservoir properties. A successful formation test has been carried out in the Stø Formation. 

Preliminary calculations estimate the size of the Hanssen discovery in the Stø Formation to be between 20-50MMboe recoverable resources, largely oil. The well will now be permanently plugged and abandoned. 

“I am excited about the confirmation of the potential of the Wisting area. OMV’s strategy in establishing Norway as a core country for the exploration and production business is advancing very well”, says Jaap Huijskes, OMV Executive Board member responsible for Exploration and Production. 

OMV (Norge) is operator, with 25% interest, with partners Petoro, Idemitsu, Tullow (each 20%) and Statoil (15%). 

OMV holds production shares in Gullfaks and Gudrun, both fields are operated by Statoil. OMV Norge is partner in the ongoing field development projects Aasta Hansteen, Zidane, Edvard Grieg and in the Polarled infrastructure project and focuses its exploration activities in the more frontier areas of the Northern Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea. OMV (Norge) currently has interests in 36 licenses; nine licenses are operated by OMV.

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