MOL Norge makes North Sea oil, gas discovery

MOL Group’s wholly owned subsidiary MOL Norge AS and its joint venture partners have discovered oil and gas in an offshore field about 200 km west of Stavanger in the Norwegian part of the North Sea. Exploration wells 25/8-19 S and 25/8-19 A were drilled in the 820S license area to a maximum depth of 2,652 m below sea level. The wells were drilled about 8 km northwest of Ringhorne on the Balder field.

Potential resources discovered in the main formation are between 12 and 71 million boe/d. Oil and gas were found in multiple formations and successfully tested for about 3,463 boe/d. Commerciality will be determined later, following additional technical work.

The primary exploration target for well 25/8-19 S was to prove petroleum in injectite sandstones in the Eocene to Paleocene and in reservoir rocks in the Lower Jurassic (the Nansen formation in the upper part of the Statfjord Group). The secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in sandstones in the Paleocene (the Ty formation), in reservoir rocks in the Lower Jurassic to Upper Triassic (the Eiriksson formation and the Skagerrak formation) and in basement.

In the primary exploration target, no injectite sandstone was encountered in the Eocene or Paleocene. Water-bearing sandstone layers totaling about 45 m with good to very good reservoir quality were encountered in the Nansen formation. In the secondary exploration target, water-filled sandstone layers totaling about 75 m with extremely good reservoir quality were encountered in the Ty formation. Oil-bearing sandstones totaling 6 m with very good to extremely good reservoir quality were encountered in the Eiriksson formation.

A 34-m gas column in sandstone with moderate to good reservoir quality lies over an oil column of minimum 45 m in sandstones with good to poor reservoir quality in the Skagerrak formation. These sandstones total 22 m within the gas and oil column.

The oil-water contact was not encountered. Weathered and partly fractured basement (under a basal conglomerate) is oil-bearing with a column a minimum of 41 m, but with poor to tight reservoir quality. The well also encountered thin oil-bearing sandstone layers totaling 7 m with good to very good reservoir quality in the Heimdal formation.

The primary exploration target for appraisal well 25/8-19 A was to verify the reservoir potential in the Skagerrak formation. The secondary exploration target was to perform a flow test in the Skagerrak formation, verify a petroleum column in the Eiriksson formation, investigate the upside potential in the Nansen formation, and confirm reservoir in the Heimdal formation.

In the primary exploration target, a total of 18 m of gas and oil-filled sandstone layers with moderate to good reservoir quality were encountered in the Skagerrak formation. No oil-water contact was proven.

In the secondary exploration target, the Nansen and Eiriksson formations came in with water-bearing sandstones of about 50 and 30 m respectively, mainly with good to very good reservoir quality. A thin, oil-bearing sandstone of 2 m with good reservoir quality was encountered in the Heimdal formation, which delineated the oil discovery in the Paleocene.

The well also encountered thin gas and oil-bearing sandstone layers (injectites) totaling 8 m with very good reservoir quality in the Eocene. The appraisal well also confirmed oil-bearing basement, but with pool reservoir quality. No oil-water contact was proven in basement.

Odfjell Drilling’s semisubmersible platform Deepsea Bergen drilled wells 25/8-19 S and 25/8-19 A. The vessel will now proceed to the shipyard at Ågotnes west of Bergen for periodic classification.

Water depth at the site is 126 m. The wells have been permanently plugged.

MOL Norge AS (40%) is the operator of the 820S license on behalf of partners Lundin Norway AS (40%), Wintershall Dea Norge AS (10%), and Pandion Energy AS (10%).