Equinor and partner Wellesley report discovering oil in the Troll and Fram area in exploration wells 35/10-7 S and 35/10-7 A in the Toppand prospect. Preliminary calculations of the expected size indicate between 3.3 and 5.2 million standard cubic meters of recoverable oil equivalent, or around 21–33 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent.
“Our exploration activity is central for our ambitions at the Norwegian continental shelf. We are pleased to see that our success in the Troll- and Fram area continues. We also regard this discovery to be commercially viable and will consider tying it to the Troll B or Troll C platform. Such discoveries close to existing infrastructure are characterised by high profitability, a short payback period and low CO2 emissions,” says Geir Sørtveit, senior vice president for exploration & production west operations.
After more than 50 years of exploration drilling, there is still much to learn about the NCS underground. Exploration wells provide important data for geologists and geophysicists, continuously developing insight and understanding which in turn form the basis for new exploration opportunities. In parallel new digital tools are introduced.
Several discoveries in the Troll and Fram area during the past few years demonstrate that even mature areas can be revitalized based on new information and modern exploration technology. Toppand is the fifth discovery in the area, and proven resources might exceed 300 million barrels of oil equivalent.
These wells are the second and third exploration well in production licence 630. The licence was awarded in the 2011 Award in Predefined Areas (APA). The wells were drilled around 8 km west of the Fram field and 140 km northwest of Bergen.
Water depth in the area is 354 meters . The wells have been permanently plugged and abandoned. The wells were drilled by the West Hercules drilling rig, which has moved to drill exploration well 6407/9-13 in production licence 1060 in the Norwegian Sea.