Norwegian oil and gas company DNO has reduced its estimate of recoverable resources at the Carmen gas-condensate discovery in the North Sea, a field once hailed as Norway's largest hydrocarbon find in a decade, following the results of an appraisal well.
DNO has updated recoverable resources at the 2023 Carmen discovery, now estimated at between 21 million and 107 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe), substantially below the initial estimate of 120 million to 230 million boe announced after the discovery well was drilled.
At the midpoint of 175 million boe, the original estimate had made Carmen the largest discovery on the Norwegian Continental Shelf since 2013.
The latest appraisal well encountered most of the recoverable volumes in the Etive Formation, where reservoir quality ranges from moderate to poor, prompting the license partners to evaluate hydraulic fracturing as a way to improve recovery.
"Tight reservoirs can be unlocked by fracking, a technique that has opened vast new oil and gas plays in the United States, but which is largely untested offshore Norway.
"We now know what is doable, so the industry should get cracking fracking and watch discoveries like Carmen sing," said Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani, DNO Executive Chairman.
The partnership is also considering further appraisal and exploration drilling, including targets in the northern part of the laterally extensive structure.
Despite the lower resource estimate, Carmen remains a potential tie-back candidate to the Kvitebjørn platform, located around 35 kilometers to the west, in which DNO holds a 19% interest.
The company has recently expanded its position in the area through acquisitions of interests in the nearby Atlantis and Afrodite discoveries, both also viewed as potential tie-back opportunities to Kvitebjørn and considered candidates for hydraulic fracturing.
The Deepsea Yantai drilling rig, owned by CIMC Raffles and managed by Odfjell Drilling, has already moved from the Carmen location to appraise the Afrodite discovery, which DNO said has significant upside potential.
Carmen is located in licence PL1148, operated by Wellesley Petroleum with 30% stake, with DNO and Equinor each holding 30% interests and Aker BP owning the remaining 10%.
The discovery is one of six made by DNO in the Troll-Gjøa area since 2021, an increasingly important hub for smaller discoveries that can be commercialized through existing infrastructure as operators seek to maximize production from the mature Norwegian Continental Shelf.
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