Oil and gas discovery northwest of the Norne field in the Norwegian Sea

Statoil Petroleum AS, operator of production licence 128, is in the process of completing the drilling of wildcat well 6608/10-17 S.

The well was drilled about five kilometres northwest of the Norne field in the northern part of the Norwegian Sea, and about 200 kilometres west of Sandnessjøen.

The primary and secondary exploration targets for the well were to prove petroleum in two Cretaceous reservoir levels (Lange formation).

The well encountered petroleum at two levels in the Lange formation. In the primary exploration target, the well encountered a total oil column of about 5 metres with an overlying gas column of about 13 metres, of which 3 and 10 metres, respectively, were in sandstone with moderate to good reservoir properties. In the secondary exploration target, the well encountered an approx. 8 metre oil column, of which 5 metres were in sandstone with moderate to good reservoir properties

The preliminary estimation of the size of the discovery is between 3 and 13 million standard cubic metres (Sm3) of recoverable oil equivalents. The licensees will consider further delineation of the discovery with regard to a potential development via the Norne FPSO.

The well was not formation tested, but extensive data acquisition and sampling were carried out.

The well is the 27th exploration well in production licence 128. The licence was awarded in licensing round 10-B in 1986.

The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 3248 metres below the sea surface and was terminated in the Spekk formation in the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous. The water depth is 374 metres. The well will be permanently plugged and abandoned.

Well 6608/10-17 S was drilled using the Deep Sea Bergen drilling facility, which will now proceed to production licence 159 B in the Norwegian Sea to drill wildcat well 6507/3-12 where Statoil Petroleum AS is the operator.