Statoil has together with partners in PL128 made an oil discovery in the Svale North prospect in the Norwegian Sea, approximately nine kilometres northeast of the Norne field.
Exploration well 6608/10-15, drilled by the Songa Trym semisubmersible, has proven a 45m oil column in the Early Jurassic Åre formation and a 45m oil column in the Melke formation. The reservoir properties were as expected in both targets.The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 2005m below the sea surface in 375m water depth. The well will be plugged and abandoned.
The preliminary estimated volume of the discovery is in the range of 6 to 19 million barrels (1-3 million cu m) of recoverable oil. The well was not formation tested, but data acquisition and sampling were done. Tie-in of the discovery to the Norne field will be considered.
"We are very pleased with the discovery," says Gro G. Haatvedt, Statoil senior vice president for Exploration Norway.
"With last month's announcement of the Smørbukk North discovery near Åsgard, this is the second discovery in the Norwegian Sea in three weeks. Timely near-field exploration provides valuable resources to Statoil and the discoveries show that there is still exciting potential in the Norwegian Sea."
"We work continuously on increasing the recovery and extending the life of the Norne field. The Svale Nord discovery confirms the prospectivity and Statoil's exploration success in the area. The discovery could lead to a further extension of the Norne field production life," says Hans Jakob Hegge, senior vice president for the operations north cluster in Statoil.
Exploration well 6608/10-15 is in PL128 in the Norwegian Sea. Statoil is operator (63.95455%) with partners Petoro AS (24.54546%) and Eni Norge AS (11.5%). This is the 26th exploration well in production licence 128, which was awarded in licensing round 10-B in 1986.
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