Suncor Energy Norge's Niobe exploration well has been classified as a dry well, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.
The well, 25/10-13 S, in production licence 571, was drilled in 119mm water depth, in the central part of the North Sea about 5km west of the Balder field and 200km northwest of Stavanger, using the Borgland Dolphin semisubmersible drilling rig (pictured).
The primary exploration target for the well was to prove petroleum in reservoir rocks from the Paleocene (Ty formation) and in the Upper Jurassic (intra Draupne sandstone). The secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in Lower Triassic reservoir rocks (Smith Bank formation).
The well encountered a 35m-thick layer of sandstone in the Ty formation, and a 44m-thick layer of Upper Jurassic sandstone, both with good reservoir quality. The well also encountered a 223m-thick section of the Smith Bank formation, of which about 47m is sandstone with moderate to poor reservoir quality.
This was the first exploration well in production license 571, which was awarded in APA 2010. The well will now be permanently plugged and abandoned.
The Borgland Dolphin will now drill wildcat well 10/4-1 on the Zeppelin prospect in PL 734, where Wintershall Norge is the operator.
Read more
Subscribe
