French supermajor Total is assessing development options for a new small gas discovery made in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.
The estimated 3-10 MMboe recoverable gas discovery was in exploration well 25/6-5 S, called Skirne East by Total and Shango by partner Faroe Petroleum.
It was drilled in 120m water depth using the Leiv Eiriksson semisubmersible drilling unit in production license 627, about 7km east of the Skirne field in the central part of the North Sea, and about 170km northwest of Stavanger.
The Skirne field consists two gas and condensate reservoirs, Skirne and Byggve, discovered in 1990 and 1991 brought on stream in 2004 using two subsea wells, tied back to the Heimdal platform (pictured. Image from Total).
The Skirne East well’s objective was to prove petroleum in Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks (Hugin formation). Total says the well encountered a 10m gas column in the Hugin formation with good to very good reservoir quality. The well was not formation tested, but data acquisition was carried out.
Total’s preliminary calculations of the size of the discovery are between 0.4 and 1.5 MMscm of recoverable oil equivalents.
The well was the first exploration well in production license 627, which was awarded in APA 2011. The well was drilled to a measured and vertical depth of 2520-2366m beneath the sea surface, respectively, and was terminated in the Dunlin formation in the Lower Jurassic.
The Leiv Eiriksson is now due to move to the Barents Sea to drill wildcat well 7324/8-2 in production license 537, for operator OMV.
The partners on Skirne East are Total (with 40% interest), Centrica Resources Norge AS (20%) and Det norske oljeselskap AS (20%).
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