ConocoPhillips ponders delineation after discovery near Balder field
ConocoPhillips Scandinavia AS and its partners will contemplate delineation and possible investigation of nearby prospects following a recent oil and gas discovery 15 km northwest of Balder field in the central North Sea. Preliminary estimates place the size of the discovery at 1-10 million standard cu m of recoverable oil equivalent.
Well 25/7-7, the second in PL 782 S, was drilled by the Leiv Eiriksson semisubmersible drilling rig 205 km west of Stavanger to a vertical depth of 4,705 m subsea in 127 m of water (OGJ Online, July 31, 2019). It was terminated in the Heather formation in the Middle Jurassic. The well was not formation-tested, but data has been collected and samples have been taken.
The well will be plugged.
The primary and secondary exploration targets for the well were to prove petroleum in Upper Jurassic reservoir rocks (Intra-Draupne and Heather formation sandstones, respectively).
In the primary exploration target, the well encountered two separate gas-condensate and oil-bearing intervals, with sandy layers in the Draupne formation totaling 25 m with reservoir properties varying from poor to very good. No hydrocarbon-water contact was encountered. Thin water-bearing siltstone layers were encountered in the secondary exploration target in the Heather formation.
The Leiv Eiriksson rig will now drill a wildcat well in PL 917, where ConocoPhillips Skandinavia is operator.
