A small gas condensate discovery has been made by StatoilHydro in the Canon prospect, about 11 kilometres west of the Veslefrikk field in the North Sea.

The purpose of the exploration well was to prove petroleum in a fault block between the Huldra and Oseberg fields. The well tested two reservoir levels – an upper one belonging to the Brent group and a deeper level in the Statfjord group.

"The exploration well struck gas condensate in the Brent group but the reservoir was thinner than expected and the find is probably not commercial," says Tom Dreyer, StatoilHydro's vice president for infrastructure exploration in the North Sea.

Deeper in the structure, the well struck sandstone belonging to the Statfjord group. Data gathered from this interval showed that the reservoir consisted of tight sand and was probably full of water.

Drilled by the West Alpha semi-submersible, the well will now be permanently plugged and abandoned. The rig's charter with StatoilHydro will terminate once the well is completed.

This is the second well to be tested in the Canon structure. An exploration well drilled in 2000 provided inconclusive results about the economic potential of the structure.

The licensees in production licence 052 are: operator StatoilHydro (18%), Petoro (37.0%), RWE Dea Norge (13.5%), Revus Energy (4.5%) and Talisman Resources Norge (27.0%).

Tags: StatoilHydro