25-70 MMboe found near Gjøa

French operator ENGIE E&P has made a 25-70 MMboe discovery in the Cara well in the Norwegian North Sea.

The well was drilled using the Transocean Arctic semisubmersible, in 349m water depth. It is 6km northeast of the ENGIE-operated Gjøa field (pictured), into which it could be tied in to as a development, in license 636.

The well was drilled to a total depth of 2702m and encountered a 51m gas column and a 60m oil column in the early Cretaceous Agat formation, says the firm. 

ENGIE E&P Norge Managing Director Cedric Osterrieth said: "The discovery is situated in our core area in the North Sea, and confirms our view that even mature areas of the Norwegian Continental Shelf have an interesting exploration potential. 

"Together with our license partners, we will now evaluate the possibility to link the discovery to existing infrastructure at the nearby Gjøa field. This will reduce both time and costs concerning a future development."

The Gjøa-platform is a semisubmersible floating production platform operated by ENGIE E&P (formerly GDF Suez).

Well 36/7-4 was the first exploration well in production license 636. The license was awarded in the Norwegian licensing round Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) in 2011. 

ENGIE E&P Norge is operator with a 30% stake. The other partners are Tullow Oil (20%), Idemitsu Petroleum (30%) and Wellesley Petroleum (20%).