Centrica Resources Norge has made a small gas discovery about 20km from Statoil's Aasta Hansteen development in the Norwegian North Sea, says the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD).
The 6707/10-3 S well, in production license 528 B, was targeting petroleum in Upper Cretaceous reservoir rocks, the Kvitnos and Lysing formations, respectively.
The well encountered a total gas column of about 12m in the Kvitnos formation with good reservoir properties. The entire reservoir zone, including the water zone, has a gross thickness of about 200m, says the NPD.
Reservoir rocks were encountered in the secondary exploration target with a total of 25m thickness in the Lysing formation, which was tight and aquiferous.
Preliminary calculations of the size of the discovery are between 2-9 billion cu m of recoverable gas. The licensees will assess well results with regard to profitability.
The well was not formation tested, but extensive data acquisition and sampling were carried out, the NPD says.
This is the first exploration well in PL 528 B. The license was awarded in the 21st licensing round, as an addition to production license 528.
Well 6707/10-3 S was drilled to a vertical depth of 4264m below the sea surface, and was terminated in the Lange formation in the Lower Cretaceous. Water depth is 1421m.
The well will now be permanently plugged and abandoned. Well 6707/10-3 S was drilled by the West Navigator drill ship.