Appraisal well confirms Avaldsnes as potential Norwegian North Sea oil giant

Offshore staff

STOCKHOLM, Sweden – Lundin Petroleum’s second appraisal well has confirmed an extension of its Avaldsnes field discovery in the Norwegian North Sea.

The semisub Bredford Dolphin drilled well 16/2-7 in 113 m (371 ft) of water, around 5.5 km (3.4 mi) south of the 16/2-6 discovery well and 4.5 km (2.8 mi) southwest of the first appraisal well 16/3-4.

Avaldsnes is in license PL501, and was recently proven to be in communication with Statoil’s Aldous Major South find to the west in PL265.

The latest well encountered a 35-m (115-ft) gross reservoir column of good quality Upper Jurassic sandstone, of which 7 m (23 ft) was above the oil/water contact. A comprehensive coring and logging program followed which confirmed the strong reservoir characteristics.

Lundin says the well will now be side tracked to derive further reservoir information. Drilling will be completed by mid September.

Ashley Heppenstall, president and CEO, said: “We will, following the side track, incorporate the results of the two-well appraisal program and Statoil's Aldous Major South well in PL265 into our geotechnical models. We will then release a revised resource range from the previously announced 100 - 400 MMboe recoverable contained within PL501.

“The Avaldsnes /Aldous Major South discovery is already the largest discovery on the Norwegian continental shelf since the mid-1980s and I am confident has the potential to grow as the field is appraised. It is likely that a third appraisal well will be drilled on Avaldsnes during the fourth quarter of 2011.”

08/31/2011