Statoil has made a minor oil discovery near the Ekofisk field in the North Sea, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate reported. The NPD said that Statoil, the operator of production license 146, is in the process of completing the drilling of wildcat well 2/4-22S – which is located around 13 miles north of Ekofish and 1.5 miles northeast of the 2/2-21 discovery in the southern part of the Norwegian North Sea.

The primary exploration target for well 2/4-22 S was to prove petroleum in reservoir rocks in the Permian layer (in the Rotliegend group). The secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in reservoir rocks in the Middle Jurassic layer (the Bryne formation). In its primary exploration target, the well encountered an 89-foot oil column in the Rotliegend group, 79 feet of which was sandstone of good reservoir quality.

In its secondary exploration target, the well encountered oil columns in two intervals in the Bryne formation, where the top interval also extends into the overlying Ula formation in the Upper Jurassic.

Tags: Statoil