Oil and gas company Neptune Energy said Friday it had made a new commercial discovery at the Ofelia exploration well, near the Gjøa field in the Norwegian part of the North Sea. The plan is to develop the discovery as a tie-back to the Gjøa platform.
Neptune, the operator of the production license where the exploration well 35/6-3 S (Ofelia is located, said it had completed drilling of the Ofelia well, 35/6-3 S, and encountered oil in the Agat formation.
The preliminary estimate of recoverable volume is in the range of 2.5-6.2 million standard cubic meters (MSm3) or 16-39 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe).
In addition to the Agat volumes, north of the well there is an upside of around 10 mmboe recoverable gas in the shallower Kyrre formation, which brings the total recoverable volume to approximately 26-49 mmboe, Neptune Energy said.
Located 15 kilometers north of the operated Gjøa platform, at a water depth of 344 meters, Ofelia will be considered for development as a tie-back to Gjøa, in parallel with the company’s recent oil and gas discovery at Hamlet.
Neptune Energy’s Managing Director for Norway and the UK, Odin Estensen, said: “I am pleased to announce our second discovery in four months which further enhances Neptune’s position in the Greater Gjøa Area. Gjøa is an important growth area for Neptune in Norway, where existing infrastructure allows for low cost and low carbon developments.”
The Ofelia drilling program confirmed an oil/water contact at 2,639 meters total vertical depth.
Agat - New Geological Play in Norway
Neptune said this was the third discovery by the company in the Agat formation, "a reservoir which until recently was not part of established exploration models on the Norwegian Shelf."
"The first was at the Duva field, which is now onstream and being operated by Neptune. The second was the company’s discovery at Hamlet, with estimated recoverable volumes between 8-24 mmboe. Together these discoveries contribute to the opening of a new geological play in Norway and can add additional new volumes to the Neptune-operated Gjøa facilities," Neptune siad.
Neptune Energy’s Director of Exploration & Development in Norway, Steinar Meland, added: “The Ofelia discovery underlines the strength of our exploration strategy and confirms the high prospectivity potential of the area around Gjøa, where we have several more exciting exploration opportunities.”
Neptune Energy operates the production license PL 929 with and has a 40% stake. The partners are Wintershall Dea (20%), Aker BP ASA (previously Lundin Energy) (10%), Pandion Energy (20%) and DNO (10%).
Ofelia was drilled by the Deepsea Yantai, a semi-submersible drilling rig owned by CIMC and operated by Odfjell Drilling. The water depth is 344 metres, and the well will be permanently plugged and abandoned.
The Deepsea Yantai is now moving on to drill wildcat well 6608/1-1 S in production licence 1017 in the Norwegian Sea, where PGNiG Upstream Norway AS is the operator.