Norway's Most Northerly Well Yields Minor Gas Find
Statoil and partners have proven a small non-commercial gas volume in the Korpfjell well in the southeast Barents Sea, in a formerly disputed area between Norway and Russia.
Norwegian upstream regulator NPD said it was the first well to be drilled in the southeastern Barents Sea, opened up for exploration activity in 2013, and the northernmost wildcat well ever drilled on the Norwegian shelf.
Statoil said the gas discovery is estimated to contain 40-75mn barrels of recoverable oil equivalents (6bn-12bn m3 gas) but, being so remote from existing infrastructure, is not large enough for commercial development. It acknowledged before drilling it was unsure if it would hold oil or gas.
Partners on Korpfjell (licence PL859) – namely Statoil as operator with 30%, Chevron 20%, Norwegian state Petoro 20%, Lundin Norway 15% and ConocoPhillips 15% – will now analyse the data acquired. Statoil is planning both operated wells and participation in partner-operated wells in the Barents Sea southeast area during 2018, including a second commitment well on the Korpfjell licence PL859.
Korpfjell is the fourth well in Statoil’s 2017 exploration campaign in the Barents Sea, where the Kayak oil find was announced July 3, followed by the Blamann gas discovery July 17, and the Gemini oil and gas finds announced August 7. Statoil expressed disappointment over the minor Korpfjell gas find but said it was too early to write off the area.
Mark Smedley