Offshore staff
LONDON -- Nautical Petroleum’s Kraken 9/02b-5 pilot well in the UK northern North Sea has successfully encountered oil in the Heimdal III sandstone interval.
The pilot well was drilled to a TD of 4,785 ft (1,458 m) MD in block 9/2b. The top of the target Heimdal III reservoir was encountered at 4,168 ft (1,270 m) MD, with an overall sand interval gross thickness of 145 ft (44 m).
According to CEO Steve Jenkins: “The well has encountered the thickest net pay in the field to date and has exceeded our pre-drill expectations. We now have five successful penetrations of themain reservoir in the core area of the field.”
Preliminary log evaluation indicates net oil pay of 94 ft (28 m) TVT, with average porosity of 38% and average oil saturation of 78%. As anticipated, an oil/water contact was not encountered at this location.
The well was designed to target an area of strong amplitude anomalies interpreted on colored inversion seismic data. The net oil pay correlates with the seismic, which Nautical says provides increased confidence for use of these seismic techniques for choosing development well locations.
The partners will next drill a horizontal side track (9/02b-5Z) of up to 600 m (1,968 ft) – aimed at proving a commercial flow rate – which will be completed with a gravel pack and tested using an electric submersible pump. This should take around 40 days to complete.
08/11/2011
