ConocoPhillips to further appraise Heidrun-area Norwegian Sea discovery

ConocoPhillips will further appraise a Norwegian Sea gas condensate discovery to determine potential flow rates, the reservoir’s ultimate resource recovery, and plans for development. Preliminary estimates place the size of the discovery at 50-190 million bbl of recoverable oil equivalent.

Well 6507/4-1 (Warka)—the first in PL 1009—was drilled by the Leiv Eiriksson drilling rig 22 miles northwest of Heidrun field and 150 miles from the coast of Norway in 1,312 ft of water to a total depth of 16,355 ft (OGJ Online, Aug. 3, 2020). It was terminated in the Lange formation from the Early Cretaceous Age.

Primary and secondary exploration targets were rocks from Albian and Aptian Ages, respectively, in the Early Cretaceous (Intra Lange formation sandstones), the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) said.

According to NPD, in the primary exploration target, the well encountered an 88-ft gas column in Lange formation sandstone layers, with moderate but uncertain reservoir quality. Gas-water contact was not encountered, and no reservoir rocks were encountered in the secondary target. The well has been permanently plugged.

The well was not formation-tested, but extensive data acquisition and sampling have been carried out. The licensees will assess the results together with other nearby prospects for potential development to existing infrastructure.

After completion, the Leiv Eiriksson drilling rig will proceed to drill exploration well 6507/5-10 S (Slagugle) 14 miles north-northeast of Heidrun field in ConocoPhillips-operated PL 891.

ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS is operator of PL 1009 with 65% interest. PGNiG Upstream Norway AS holds the remaining 35%.