Statoil’s wildcat in the Barents Sea came up dry, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate today confirmed.
The Norwegian operator drilled the well 100 kilometres northwest of the 7220/8-1 Johan Castberg discovery in the Barents Sea.
The primary exploration target for the well was to prove petroleum in Middle Jurassic to Late Triassic reservoir rock. The secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in Late to Middle Triassic reservoir rocks.
Well 7317/9-1 encountered multiple sandstone layers in both exploration targets, totalling about 60 metres in the Realgrunn sub-group and about 50 metres that are preliminarily correlated to the Snadd formation. All sandstone layers have poor to no reservoir quality.
This is the first exploration well in production licence 718. The licence was awarded in the 22nd licensing round in 2013. The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 1468 metres below the sea surface, and was terminated in presumed Middle to Late Triassic reservoir rock. Water depth at the site is 460 metres. The well will be permanently plugged and abandoned.
Elsewhere, Statoil today celebrated a significant oil find in the UKCS. Read more here.
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