Norway Finds Gas, Oil near Norne
Norwegian Equinor and partners Ineos and Faroe Petroleum have found oil and gas with exploration well Snadd Outer Outer/Black Vulture in production licence 159B in the Norwegian Sea, it said June 17. The well had two targets: an upper drilling target containing 2-12mn barrels of oil equivalent (boe) of gas and a lower target with an estimated volume of 1-48mn boe.
“We are very pleased with the results of both targets. This was of course what we hoped for, and it isn’t given that we find both oil and gas in the same well. The volumes are broadly estimated, and operational challenges prevented side-tracking. We are evaluating both the time and place for further delineation to give us more accurate volume estimates,” said Equinor.
Drilling well 6507/3-13 Snadd Outer Outer/Black Vulture started on April 27 around 14 km southwest of the Norne field in the northern part of the Norwegian Sea. The operation started by drilling to 2,800 metres to the first target Snadd Outer Outer, where gas was proven. Further drilling down to 3,200 metres to the second target, Black Vulture, hit oil. The well volume totals 3-60mn boe before further delineation is made.
"The deepest target is following up the Cape Vulture discovery of 2017, offering further opportunities on the Nordland Ridge, and we are very happy about today’s discovery. Snadd Outer Outer/Black Vulture and Cape Vulture combined have in fact proven to be a success story for cretaceous reservoirs off the coast of Nordland, encouraging us to pursue further opportunities in the area going forward,” said Equinor. Equinor is boosting its exploration activity in the Norwegian Sea, with 16 licences awarded in the latest round.
The licence partners will evaluate how to further develop the discovery. “Tying the discovery to the Norne ship is one of the options we will study. Snadd Outer Outer/Black Vulture is located close to the Norne field with all its infrastructure, and this option is in line with Equinor’s strategy of using existing solutions. The Cape Vulture discovery has already more than doubled remaining oil resources that can be produced through the Norne field, and we have a specific goal of further increasing the reserves around the Norne field,” said Equinor.
The rig Transocean Spitsbergen is now moving to production licence 502 to drill the Equinor-operated exploration well Klaff in the North Sea.