Oil discovery in the North Sea

Oil discovery in the North Sea

The well was drilled by the Deepsea Yantai drilling facility. Photo: Odfjell Drilling.

17/04/2024 Vår Energi has made an oil discovery in "Ringhorne Nord" (wells 25/8-23 S and 25/8-23 B), north of the Ringhorne Øst field, 200 kilometres northwest of Stavanger.

Preliminary calculations indicate the size of the discovery at between 2 and 3.7 million standard cubic metres of recoverable oil equivalent (Sm3 o.e.). This is the equivalent of 13-23 million barrels.

The licensees are considering a tieback of the discovery to existing nearby infrastructure.

These are the first exploration wells in production licence 956, which was awarded in 2018. The well was drilled by the Deepsea Yantai drilling rig.

Vår Energi has recently conducted exploration activity in the area, including the drilling of two exploration wells in production licence PL 917 in the "Hubert" and "Magellan" prospects.

Vår Energi operates the Balder and Ringhorne Øst fields. The results of Vår Energi's exploration activity are important for future area development and the lifetimes of the Balder and Ringhorne Øst fields.

Geological information

The primary exploration target for well 25/8-23 S was to prove petroleum in reservoir rocks in the Ty Formation in the Palaeocene and in the Skagerrak Formation in the Triassic. The secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in reservoir rocks in the Nansen Formation in the Lower Jurassic.

The objective of sidetracks 25/8-23 A and 25/8-23 B was to prove petroleum in reservoir rocks in the Ty Formation and Nansen Formation, respectively.

Well 25/8-23 S encountered a 5-metre oil column in the Ty Formation in sandstone with good to very good reservoir quality. The oil/water contact was not proven. The Nansen Formation was encountered with a total thickness of 15 metres, of which 12 metres were sandstone with good to very good reservoir quality with traces of oil. The well encountered the Skagerrak Formation with a total thickness of 137 metres, of which 20 metres were of moderate to poor reservoir quality. The formation was aquiferous.

Well 25/8-23 A did not encounter sandstone in the Ty Formation.

Well 25/8-23 B encountered an 8-metre oil column in the Nansen Formation. The reservoir showed a total thickness of 17 metres, of which 13 metres were of good reservoir quality. The oil/water contact was proven at 1917.5 metres below sea level.

The wells were not formation-tested, but extensive data acquisition and sampling was undertaken.

Well 25/8-23 S was drilled to a measured depth of 2454 metres below sea level, and was terminated in basement rock.

Well 25/8-23 A was drilled to measured and vertical depths of 2264 and 2001 metres below sea level, respectively.

Well 25/8-23 B was drilled to measured and vertical depths of 2206 and 1955 metres below sea level, respectively.

Water depth at the site is 127 metres. The wells have been plugged and abandoned.

Updated: 17/04/2024

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