Vår Energi drills dry well in Barents Sea

Vår Energi drilled a dry well in Barents Sea production license 1025 S. Exploration well 7219/6-1 (Venus), the first well to be drilled in the license, was drilled using the Transocean Enabler, which will now proceed to well 7220/2-2 in production license 1080 for Equinor.

The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 1,620 m subsea. It was terminated in the Kveite formation in the Upper Cretaceous. Water depth at the site is 399 m. The well has been plugged.

The primary and secondary exploration targets were to prove petroleum in two levels in Lower Palaeocene reservoir rocks in the Torsk formation.

The well encountered the primary exploration target at 1,406 m subsea with alternating silty/schistose reservoir rocks with a thickness of 10-15 m. Traces of gas were observed at a depth of 1,430 m. The reservoir rocks are tight and attempts to collect fluid samples were unsuccessful.

The secondary exploration target was encountered at 1,563 m subsea, without the presence of reservoir rocks or indications of hydrocarbons. The well is classified as dry.