Equinor drills dry wells at Kvernbit, Mimung North Sea prospects

Equinor Energy AS drilled two dry wells (Kvernbit, Mimung) in the North Sea.

Exploration well 35/10-14 S and 35/10-14 A, drilled by the Deepsea Stavanger rig, were the first to be drilled in production license 1185, which was awarded in 2023, according to the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD). 

Geological information

The primary exploration target for the wells was to prove petroleum in Upper and Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks in the Kvernbit prospect (Viking Group) and the Mimung sør prospect (Brent Group), respectively, NOD said in a release Dec. 23. The secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in the Cook formation in the Lower Jurassic.

Well 35/10-14 S was drilled to respective vertical and measured depths of 4,885 m and 4,925 m subsea. It was terminated in the Johansen formation.

In the primary exploration target in well 35/10-14 S, the well encountered more than 80 m of sandstone reservoir in the Upper Jurassic with poor reservoir properties. The Brent Group was 193 m thick, 51 m of which were sandstone layers with poor reservoir properties, NOD said. The Cook formation was 77 m thick, 18 m of which were sandstone layers, mainly with poor reservoir properties.

Well 35/10-14 A was drilled to respective vertical and measured depths of 4,275 m and 4,710 m subsea. It was terminated in the Rannoch formation in the Mid Jurassic.

In well 35/10-14 A, the Tarbert, Ness, Etive, and Rannoch formations were encountered with a total thickness of 163 m, 63 m of which were sandstone layers with poor reservoir properties. Extensive data acquisition was carried out in both wells, including core sampling in well 35/10-14 A.

Equinor is operator of the license with 40% interest. Partners are Vår Energi ASA (20%), Sval Energi AS (20%), and Aker BP ASA (20%).