Aker BP Makes Minor Barents Gas Find
Aker BP has made a small gas discovery in the Barents Sea. Norway's upstream regulator NPD however said May 30 it is not considered to be commercial at this time.
The wildcat well drilled the Svanefjell prospect on PL659 to the far north of Norway, some 175 km northwest of Hammerfest and also about 20 km west of an earlier Langlitinden discovery well.
The latest well (7221/12-1) encountered a total gas column of about 20 metres, of which 7 metres in sandstone layers with good to moderate reservoir quality. NPD said that preliminary results from gas samples indicate that the gas may be in the gas-hydrate phase. Attempts will be made to clarify this through further analysis. If there is free gas in the reservoir, added NPD, then the preliminary estimate of the discovery's size is between 2bn and 3.5bn m3 recoverable gas. Licensees will now assess the results from the well, only the second exploration to be drilled on PL659, in their further evaluation of the area.
Aker BP operates PL659 with a 50% interest; its partners are state holding Petoro 30% and Lundin Norway 20%.