Norway's Statoil has made a 15-75 MMboe gas and condensate discovery near the 70-200 MMboe King Lear discovery located just 17km from the Ekofisk facilities.
The Julius discovery well 2/4-23S, drilled using the Maersk Gallant jackup in 68m water depth, proved gas and condensate in the Ula formation in PL146/PL333 in the southern North Sea - where the Ekofisk field, the first Norwegian offshore oil find - was discovered.
The well's target was Upper Jurassic rocks in the Ula Formation and Middle Jurassic rocks in the Bryne formation. Some 41m of gas and condensate filled sandstone rocks were found in the Ula formation with moderate reservoir quality, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD). Some 30m of water-filled sandstone with poor quality reservoir was found on Bryne. A secondary exploration target was Upper Triassic reservoir rocks in the Skagerrak formation. The Skagerrak formation had poor reservoir quality and was waterfilled, says the NPD.
According to Statoil, the well, also used to appraise King Lear, provided important information on reservoir distribution and reservoir communication in the King Lear discovery. Statoil says it is expected that the King Lear volumes will stay within the previously communicated range of 70-200 MMboe, hinting that there was not communication between the two reservoirs.
“The King Lear and Julius discoveries are located in one of the most mature parts of the Norwegian continental shelf - just 20km north of Ekofisk, the first commercial Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) discovery made 45 years ago. The discoveries confirm Statoil’s view that even such mature areas of the NCS still have an interesting exploration potential,” says May-Liss Hauknes, Statoil vice president for exploration in the North Sea.
“Since the King Lear discovery, the main focus of the licence partnership has been to clarify the resource basis within PL146/PL333. Following the positive results of the Julius well, the partnership will start working on an optimal plan for a timely development of the discovered resources. The Julius discovery will be included in the resource base for a future PL146/PL333 development decision,” says Edward Prestholm, acting head of early phase field development on the NCS in Statoil.
As well as exploring the Julius prospect and appraising King Lear, the well aimed to prove petroleum in Upper Triassic reservoir rocks (the Skagerrak formation).
The Mærsk Gallant, which will now proceed to PL 018 to do well work on the Eldfisk field in the North Sea.
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