Offshore staff
STAVANGER, Norway -- Statoil has proven oil and condensate in the Krafla West prospect in the North Sea.
Exploration well 30/11-8 A – the seventh in production license 035 – was drilled by the semisub Ocean Vanguard in 108 m (354 ft) of water, 26 km (16 mi) southwest of the Oseberg South field. According to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, the well was drilled on a separate structure just west of wildcat 30/11-8 S, which brought last month’s Krafla discovery.
A gross oil column of 140 m (459 ft) and a gross condensate column of 160 m (525 ft) were encountered in the Tarbert formation with reservoir quality as expected. However, the secondary exploration target in the Ness formation was water-filled.
The gas/oil ratio is 574 cu m/cu m in the oil column and 2,230 cu m/cu m in the condensate column. Initial analysis suggests around 12.6-37.7 MMboe recoverable.
“Through the discoveries in Krafla and now Krafla West, we’ve proven reserves of 50-75 MMboe,” said Gro Gunleiksrud Haatvedt, Statoil’s senior vice president for the North Sea in the Exploration business area. “This must be considered a very substantial figure in a near-field context….
“Discoveries with both wells indicate that we’ve understood how the hydrocarbon systems in this area function.”
Statoil will consider a fasttrack development of both finds via tie-backs to infrastructure in the Oseberg area will be considered.
Ocean Vanguard now heads to PL 569 in the central North Sea to drill Statoil’s 16/7-10 wildcat.
06/28/2011
