Statoil comes up dry in the North Sea

Statoil, operator of production license 72 B, is in the process of completing the drilling of wildcat well 16/7-11 on behalf of production licenses 72 B, 72 D and 72 E. This is the second exploration well in production license 72 B.

The well was drilled approximately 10km east of the Sleipner A platform in the central part of the North Sea and 220km west of Stavanger.

Well 16/7-11 was drilled to a vertical depth of 2625m below sea level, in 81m water depth, and was terminated in the Skagerrak formation. Data acquisition has been carried out. The well will now be permanently plugged and abandoned.

The purpose of the well was to prove petroleum in Upper Trias reservoir rocks (the Skagerrak formation). The well was drilled 97m into the Skagerrak formation, about 50m of which was in thin sandstone layers with moderate to good reservoir quality. The well is dry.

The well was drilled by the drilling facility Songa Trym, which will now drill wildcat well 25/11-28 in the central part of the North Sea in production license 169, where Statoil is also the operator.

Image: Production license 72 B map/ Norwegian Petroleum Directorate