The Deepsea Stavanger semisubmersible drilled the Heisenberg exploration well 10 km northwest of the Fram Field, a tieback to Troll. Initial analysis suggests 24 MMboe to 84 MMboe recoverable, and according to Equinor’s partner DNO, the discovery may extend into the adjacent PL248F license (DNO 20%).
The well, drilled in 368 m of water, encountered a 6-m gas column over an 8-m oil column in Hordaland Group sandstone within the Paleogene, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate reported.
Although the find could potentially use existing infrastructure, further appraisal drilling is needed to firm up resources, Equinor said. The next well could be drilled in 2024.
Geir Sørtveit, Equinor’s senior vice president for E&P west, said, "Our Troll exploration play keeps delivering. With discoveries in eight out of nine exploration wells, we are approaching a success rate of 90%. We plan to further explore the area, while looking at possible development solutions for the discoveries that have been made. We have a good infrastructure in the area and can quickly bring competitive barrels from here to the market at low cost and with low CO2 emissions."
Five of the eight discoveries came on licenses awarded under Norway’s regular APA rounds.
Last month the company discovered Røver South in the same area. The other finds are Echino South, Swisher, Røver North, Blasto, Toppand, Kveikje and Røver South.
The company said it will explore for volumes in mature areas where discoveries can be tied into existing infrastructure to maximize the value of investments that it has made over 50 years.
DNO said its next North Sea well, targeting the Carmen prospect, will spud in April on license PL1148.
03.14.2023
