Goliat Ridge oil resource grows following Barents Sea Zagato discovery
Vår Energi has proven more oil close to the Goliat field in the Barents Sea.
The semisub COSL Protector drilled the Zagato exploration well 7122/8-3 S, the eleventh in production license 229, in 410 m of water. It has since been temporarily plugged and abandoned.
According to the Norwegian Oil Directorate, in the primary exploration Middle Triassic target, the well penetrated oil columns totaling 72 m, distributed over three reservoir zones in the Kobbe Formation.
Drilling into the secondary exploration target revealed a 3-m oil column in the Tubåen Formation, followed by a 2-m oil column in the Klappmyss Formation. Initial findings suggest a recoverable resource range of 15 MMboe to 43 MMboe.
Zagato is 8 km northeast of the Goliat FPSO. This latest success on the Goliat Ridge play follows Vår Energi’s nearby Countach discoveries last year, and lifts the total potential resource to up to 100 MMboe.
All the discoveries were in separate fault blocks, with similar-quality reservoirs to those producing at Goliat. Gross discovered and prospective recoverable resources in the area could exceed 200 MMboe.
To complete the remaining potential delineation and hasten progress to development studies, a new 3D and a 4D seismic survey will be acquired this summer over the area.
Vår Energi and partner Equinor plan to drill about 20 exploration wells in the Barents Sea region over a four-year period. COSL Protector will next drill infill wells at the Goliat field before returning to the Goliat Ridge later this year for two further exploration/appraisal wells.
