Equinor discovers gas-condensate in the Haltenbanken Vest Unit

Equinor Energy AS will consider a tie in of a recent Norwegian Sea gas-condensate discovery to infrastructure being developed for its Lavrans discovery, part of Kristin field.

The operator made the new discovery in development well 6406/2-L-2 H in production license (PL) 199 in the Haltenbanken Vest Unit in the Norwegian Sea, 260 km southwest of Brønnøysund, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) said in a release Sept. 10. 

Preliminary estimates place the size of the discovery at 2-4 million std. cu m of recoverable oil equivalent, NOD said. 

The well was drilled by the Transocean Spitsbergen rig in connection with the Lavrans discovery, which is currently undergoing development (OGJ Online, June 30, 2021). The objective of the well was to prove petroleum in Lower Jurassic sandstones in the lower part of the Tilje formation.

The well was drilled to respective measured and vertical depths of 6,075 m and 5,045 m subsea. It was terminated in the Åre formation in the Lower Jurassic. The well encountered a gas-condensate column of about 30 m in the lower parts of the Tilje formation with moderate to good reservoir properties. Gas-condensate was also proven in the upper parts of the Tilje formation in a sandstone reservoir with moderate to poor reservoir properties. The well was not formation-tested.

The wellbore has been permanently plugged, and the Transocean Spitsbergen will now continue drilling production well 6406/2-L-2 AY1H in the same location.

Equinor is operator of PL199 with 52% interest. Partners are Petoro AS (27%), Vår Energi ASA (15%), and TotalEnergies EP Norge AS (6%).