Norwegian oil and gas company Aker BP has made a minor oil and gas discovery at the Overly prospect in the North Sea, offshore Norway.
The wildcat well, formally known as well 2/8-19, was drilled about 10 kilometers north of the Valhall field, and 270 kilometers southwest of Lista, using Maersk Drilling's Maersk Invincible jack-up drilling rig.
The primary exploration target for well 2/8-19 was to prove petroleum in reservoir rocks in Lower Pliocene clinoforms (Nordland Group). The secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in reservoir rocks in Middle Pliocene clinoforms (Nordland Group).
In the primary exploration target, well 2/8-19 encountered a 9-meter oil column in a sandstone reservoir totaling 56 meters in the Nordland Group. The oil column was in a reservoir with moderate to good reservoir quality. The oil/water contact was proven at 703 meters below sea level. Traces of petroleum were also observed in sandstone with moderate to poor reservoir quality deeper than the proven oil/water contact, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said Wednesday.
According to the NPD, in the secondary exploration target, the well encountered a 15-meter gas column in a sandstone reservoir. The reservoir totalled 68 metres, and reservoir quality varied from good (top) to poor (bottom). The gas/water contact was proven at a depth of 563 metres below sea level.
Preliminary estimates place the size of the discovery between 0.6 and 1.9 million Sm3 of recoverable oil equivalent. In barrels of oil equivalent, the discovery size has been estimated as between 3.7 million barrels and 12 million barrels. The licensees will assess the discovery as regards potential further delineation.
The Well 2/8-19 was drilled to a vertical depth of 806 meters below sea level and was terminated in the Nordland Group in the Pliocene. The water depth at the site is 69 meters. The well has been permanently plugged and abandoned. The Maersk Invincible drilling rig is now headed to Denmark for classification.