It’s been quite a week offshore Norway, with Equinor notching a commercial-looking find and ConocoPhillips finding oil and gas, as drill bits turn and investments get the nod.
While OE Digital reported Equinor’s find, ConocoPhillips’ discovery was only declared today — about 60 million barrels of oil equivalent just 15 kilometers northwest of the Balder field in production license, PL 782. It was the 15th discovery offshore Norway so far this year, although only eight look commercial and, worryingly for some, many an arctic well has been a duster.
But ConocoPhillips’ find, in a mature area 200 kilometers west of Stavanger, is a reminder that the North Sea still figures large in Norwegian hopes to drive the industry into the future. Finding oil and light oil with gas in separate oil-bearing sands will always be reminiscent of the large fields that built modern Norway.
Exploration well 25/7-7 was the first wildcat in PL 782, and that too speaks of still more unexplored areas amid mature areas, with the potential always present of finding a giant nation-builder like Johan Sverdrup. ConocoPhillips, with 40% of the Balder-area find, is joined in the license by Equinor (20%), Aker BP (20%) and Dea Norge (20%).
The Norwegian Sea, too, has been a bright spot of late. Only its high-temperature, high-pressure nature give cause to pause the deliberations of engineers and geologists. ConocoPhillips’ North Sea find, however, is also a challenge at 4,700 meters below the seabed.
The less-explored Norwegian Sea is, moreover, a gas province now beginning to yield more oil. It’s attracting oil players in search of gas and gas players in search of oil. OKEA, for one, plans four wells in the Draugen area alone between now and year-end 2020. In all, 22 wells wildcats were drilled in 2019.
More coming
Padding well counts are the 80-odd production wells drilled in Norway so far this year. Many are tied to about two dozen developments and redevelopments — including 14 in the North Sea and six in the Norwegian Sea — that prop up a mix of new installations, with several others poised to emerge as development plans that include more drilling.
In all, Norwegian authorities expect 50 exploration wells will be drilled in 2019, on par with last year and, likely, next year. Most, however, are exploration wells, and official Norwegian records say the split was 50-50 exploration/appraisal in 2018, a nod to oil prices.
Egging offshore licensees on now are the new exploration models and new tech that target new types of plays, especially in the near arctic.
In all, 38 companies sought production licenses in Norway’s last licensing round, the APA 2019. These recent discoveries in the North Sea, especially, will keep them coming.
2019 North Sea and Norwegian Sea discoveries: