Norwegian operator Aker BP announced Tuesday it has found up to 130 mmboe in the the Froskelår Main exploration well in licence 869 in the Alvheim area.
Aker BP said the preliminary gross resource estimate is 60-130 mmboe, and that part of the discovery may straddle the UK-Norwegian border in the North Sea.
The Froskelår Main well is part of a drilling campaign in the Alvheim area launched on the back of the exploration success at Frosk in 2018, Aker BP said, adding more exploration and appraisal wells will follow.
“The exploration success at Froskelår Main is an encouraging result of a long-term strategy to unlock the exploration potential in the Alvheim area,” said Evy Glørstad-Clark, SVP Exploration in Aker BP. “This strategy has involved extensive data acquisition and detailed technical analysis. In parallel, we have been expanding our acreage position in the area through licensing rounds and business development activities. The Froskelår Main discovery represents a significant addition to the resource base in the Alvheim area. The discovery also illustrates the significant resource potential yet to be uncovered on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.”
Aker BP is the operator and holds 60 percent interest in licence 869. Partners Lundin Norway and Vår Energi each hold 20 percent interest. The licensees will consider tying the discovery into existing infrastructure in the Alvheim area.
Horizontal appraisal well 24/9-14 A was drilled 2,650 meters northeast of wildcat well 24/9-14 S. The two wells, which are the first and second exploration wells in production licence 869, were drilled by Saipem's Scarabeo 8 semisubmersible drilling rig, about 4 kilometers northwest of the Bøyla field and 225 kilometers west of Stavanger.
24/9-14 S was drilled to respective vertical and measured depths of 2,097 and 2,252 meters below sea level, and was terminated in the Sele formation in the Palaeocene. 24/9-14 A was drilled horizontally in the Hordaland group in the Eocene to respective vertical and measured depths of 1,847 and 4,398 meters below sea level. Water depth at the site is 120 meters.
The objective of wildcat well 24/9-14 S was to prove petroleum and the reservoir potential in reservoir rocks (injectites) in the Eocene (Intra Hordaland group sandstones). The objective of well 24/9-14 A was to investigate the lateral extent, as well as the reservoir potential of the injectites.
The wildcat well encountered a total gas column of 30 meters, and a total oil column of 38 meters in the Hordaland group in sandstone layers (injectites) totaling 35 meters, mainly with very good to excellent reservoir properties. The sandstones are interpreted as being immobilized sand from the Heimdal and Hermod formations in the Palaeocene which are injected into the overlying Hordaland group. The gas/oil contact was observed in the well. The oil/water contact was not observed, as the logs showed oil down to the situation.
The appraisal well encountered several gas-bearing and oil-bearing injectite zones totaling 540 meters, with many sandstone layers with variable reservoir properties, mainly from good up to excellent. Here too, the sandstone layers are interpreted as being injected sands in the Hordaland group with variable quality and thickness. The gas/oil and oil/water contacts are as in the wildcat well.
The wells were not formation-tested, but extensive volumes of data have been acquired and samples have been taken. Both have been permanently plugged and abandoned.
Scarabeo 8 will now drill a combined wildcat and test production well, 24/9-15 S, in production licence 340, where Aker BP is also the operator.