Equinor plugs North Sea oil discovery deemed unprofitable

Equinor Energy AS has plugged a well that was drilled on behalf of Aker BP, operator of production license 272 B in the North Sea after an oil discovery was deemed not profitable at current price assumptions.

Well 30/12-3 S, the first in the license, proved 0.15-0.55 million cu m of recoverable oil equivalent, and included sidetrack well 30/12-3 A, which was dry, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate said in a release Jan. 22.

The wells were drilled about 40 km south of Oseberg and 150 km west of Bergen by the Deepsea Stavanger drilling rig.

Aker BP and Equinor each hold 50% interest in the production license, which is part of Munin field.

The objective was to prove petroleum in Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks in the Tarbert formation.

Well 30/12-3 S was drilled to measured and vertical depths of 3,663 m and 3,465 m below sea level, respectively, and was terminated in the Drake formation. It encountered a 3.5-m oil column in the Tarbert formation, in a sandstone reservoir with moderate reservoir quality. The Tarbert formation was about 195 m thick, 97 m of which was sandstone rocks with moderate-good reservoir quality. The oil-water contact was encountered 3,110 m below sea level.

The Ness formation was about 163 m thick in total, 19 m of which was a sandstone reservoir with moderate reservoir quality.

Well 30/12-3 A was drilled to measured and vertical depths of 4,520 and 3,718 m below sea level, respectively, and was terminated in the Ness formation. It encountered the Tarbert formation with a thickness of about 216 m, 19 m of which was sandstone rocks with poor reservoir quality. The Ness formation was about 50 m thick in total, 11 m of which was a sandstone reservoir with moderate reservoir quality.

The wells were not formation-tested, but data acquisition was undertaken.

Water depth in the area is 106 m.