New oil discovery in the Norwegian Sea

November 3, 2021

Well 6407 / 1-9 was drilled by the drilling facility West Hercules. (Photo: Ole Jørgen Bratland / Equinor ASA)

Equinor, together with partners PGNiG Upstream Norway and Longboat Energy Norway, has found oil in exploration well 6407 / 1-9 – Egyptian Vulture. Preliminary estimates show that between 3 and 10 million standard cubic meters of recoverable oil equivalents have been proven in the well, corresponding to 19-62 million barrels.

“Our ambition is to transform the shelf from an oil and gas province to a broad energy province that will ensure value creation from the shelf in the decades to come. In this ambition, our exploration activities are central,” says Kristin Westvik who is area director for Exploration and Production North.

She adds that future value creation will largely come from increased recovery from existing fields, and connection of new discoveries close to existing infrastructure. It is therefore uplifting once again to be able to demonstrate resources that can strengthen the service life of producing fields in the Norwegian Sea. Such near-field discoveries are profitable, robust against fluctuations in oil / gas prices, they have a short payback period and low emissions.

The discovery is the sixth Equinor has made on the Norwegian shelf so far this year.

Kristin Westvik - portrait — Kristin Westvik, area director for Exploration and Production North. (Photo: Harriet M. Olsen / Equinor ASA)

The well was drilled about 10 kilometers north of the Tyrihans field and 23 kilometers east of the Kristin field in the Norwegian Sea. The aim of the well was to detect hydrocarbons in sandstone reservoirs of the late Cretaceous age in the Lange Formation.

Well 6407 / 1-9 was drilled vertically to a measured depth of 3883 meters below sea level and encountered an estimated 36 meters of oil column in sandstone in the Lange Formation, of which 13 meters are sandstones with poor to moderate reservoir quality. Oil down to 3719.5 meters below sea level was detected in the well. The oil-water contact was not encountered. Water depth at the site is 301 meters.

Extensive data collection and sampling has been performed. The preliminary analysis of the MDT samples indicates a light oil.

This is the first exploration well in production license 939. The license was awarded in APA 2017.

The discovery will be evaluated for further appraisal and assessed for tie back to existing fields in the area.

The well will be permanently plugged and abandoned.

Well 6407 / 1-9 was drilled by the drilling facility West Hercules, which will now drill exploration well 35 / 10-7 S Toppand in production license 630 in the North Sea, where Equinor is the operator.