Equinor, OKEA find oil with two near-field North Sea wells

Equinor has proven more oil and gas in the prolific Fram area of the Norwegian North Sea, 9 km north of the Troll Field, according to an Aug. 25 company news release.

Well 35/11-31S, drilled by the semisub COSL Innovator, delivered a 5-m oil column in the Sognefjord Formation, according to the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD). It then encountered a 4-m gas column in a 68-m thick sandstone layer.

The NOD estimates the find, named F-South, could hold nearly 7 MMboe recoverable. The well was drilled in 354 m of water and has since been permanently plugged and abandoned.

The licensees will consider tying F-South back to existing or future infrastructure. COSL Innovator will drill wildcat well 34/8-20 S next in production licence 554 E.

"These are discoveries in an interesting area with a well-developed infrastructure. In recent years, we have made several discoveries in the neighborhood, and we plan to further explore the area. We believe that we may encounter more, both oil and gas." 

—Geir Sørtveit, SVP for Exploration & Production West, NCS, Equinor

Oil discovery in the Talisker exploration well

Elsewhere in the Norwegian North Sea, OKEA has confirmed multiple discoveries with its Talisker exploration well at the Brage Field in PL 055. They occurred in the Cook and Statfjord formations and are thought to hold combined recoverable resources in the range 16 MMboe to 33 MMboe.

Appraisal of further hydrocarbons encountered in two thin Brent group sandstones should be completed during the fourth quarter.

The 10,223-m-long Talisker exploration well (31/4-A-15 B) was drilled from the OKEA-operated Brage platform in the North Sea.

“This discovery is another example of OKEA’s strategy to utilize existing infrastructure, subsurface knowledge and drilling technology to unlock more value in the Brage area, and extend the lifetime of the field."

—Svein J. Liknes, CEO, OKEA

Other partners are Lime Petroleum, DNO Norge, Petrolia NOCO and M Vest Energy.