Norway's Statoil has made a "minor" discovery near the Oseberg field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.
The firm drilled two wells on production license 035/272, 30/11-11 S and 30/11-11 A, about 2km southeast of the Askja East discovery and 35km southwest of the Oseberg South facility, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD).
The primary exploration target was to prove petroleum in Upper to Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks (Tarbert formation) in two nearby fault blocks. A secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks (Ness formation).
Well 30/11-11 S encountered a 25m oil column in the upper part of the Tarbert formation, of which 22m had moderate to good reservoir properties. Well 30/11-11 A encountered a corresponding reservoir in the Tarbert formation, but was aquiferous with traces of hydrocarbons and classified as dry, says the NPD.
Both wells proved sandstones with moderate to good porosity in the Ness formation, but these were aquiferous.
Preliminary estimation of the size of the discovery in well 30/11-11 S is between 0.2-0.5 MMcu m of recoverable oil.
The wells, drilled in 106m water depth using the Songa Delta drilling rig, are the 12th and 13th exploration wells in production license 035, which was awarded in the second licensing round in 1969.