Maersk Oil Norway AS, operator of production licence 510, is about to complete drilling of wildcat well 6406/6-4 S. The well was drilled about 20 kilometres southwest of the Tyrihans field in the Norwegian Sea.

The primary exploration target for the well was to prove petroleum in Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks (the Garn formation). The secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in Middle and Lower Jurassic reservoir rocks (Ile and Tilje formations).

The well encountered a 25-metre gas column in the Garn formation, with 102-metre thick sandstone with good reservoir quality. The well also encountered 67 and 45 metre thick sandstones with good reservoir quality in the Ile and Tofte formations, respectively, but they were water-filled. The well drilled 50 metres into the Tilje formation, which was also water-filled. The preliminary estimate of the size of the discovery is between 1.5 and 3 million Sm3 of recoverable oil equivalents. A preliminary assessment shows that the discovery is not profitable today.

The well was not formation-tested, but data acquisition and sampling have been carried out.

This is the first exploration well in production licence 510. The licence was awarded in APA 2009.

Well 6406/6-4 S was drilled to a measured and vertical depth of 4524 and 4484 metres below the sea surface, respectively, and was terminated in the Tilje formation in the Lower Jurassic.

Water depth at the site is 261 metres. The well will now be permanently plugged and abandoned.

Well 6406/6-4 S was drilled by the Leiv Eiriksson drilling facility.

Tags: Maersk Oil