Offshore staff
STAVANGER, Norway – Statoil discovered two oil fields during its latest exploration campaign in the Flemish Pass basinoffshore Newfoundland.
The semisubmersibleWest Hercules drilled nine wells over a 19-month period over an area around 500 km (310 mi) east of St. John’s.
Three were appraisal wells on the 2013deepwater Bay du Nord discovery. Four more were on relatively nearby, but previously untested structures, while the other two were drilled in areas farther out.
Both the new oil finds, on the Bay de Verde and Baccalieu prospects, were in the Bay du Nord area, strengthening the resource base for a potential development.
The wells in this area have reduced lingering reservoir uncertainties and confirmed that volumes are within the originally assessed range of 300-600 MMbbl recoverable oil, but possibly toward the lower end.
Erling Vågnes, senior vice president Statoil Exploration, Northern Hemisphere, said: “Based on the improved understanding of the Flemish Pass basin petroleum system, we are maturing further prospects that may add volumes to Bay du Nord.
“TheFlemish Pass basin offshore Newfoundland is a frontier area, where only 17 wells have been drilled in the entire basin – in an area that is 30,000 sq km [11,583 sq mi],” he added.
Drilling started in November 2014 and was extended by one month to incorporate the well on Baccalieu in license awarded by the C-NLOPB under the 2015 land sale. Statoil was able to progress from access to the acreage to well-completion in four months.
Paul Fulton, president, Statoil Canada, said: “Work is under way to evaluate the results related to proceeding with a potential Statoil-operated development in the Flemish Pass basin.”
06/10/2016
Share your news withOffshore at [email protected]
