Statoil says it has made a major discovery off the Canadian coast that could contain up to 600million barrels of recoverable oil.
The Norwegian major’s first exploration well on the Bay du Nord field, around 500km northeast of Newfoundland, is the company’s third significant find in the region.
Now the company is looking to Canada to be a core production area in the next few years.
“It is exciting that Statoil is opening a new basin offshore Newfoundland,” says Tim Dodson, executive vice president of Statoil Exploration. “This brings us one step closer to becoming a producing operator in the area.”
The discovery contains between 300 and 600 million barrels of recoverable oil, with additional resources identified which could boost the figure even further once they have been properly assessed.
A sidetrack well was completed this week to confirm the extent of the initial find, with further drilling set to be carried out in the area to decide the commercial implications of the find.
Statoil’s nearby Mizzen discovery is estimated to hold up to 200million recoverable barrels of oil, while the Harpoon discovery made in June this year is still being evaluated but is expected to boost those numbers higher.
“With only a few wells drilled in a large licenced area, totalling about 8,500 square kilometres, more work is required,” said Dodson.
“This will involve new seismic as well as additional exploration and appraisal drilling to confirm these estimates before the partnership can decide on an optimal development solution in this frontier basin.”
The new well, in which Statoil has a 65% operating stake with partner Husky Energy, was drilled by the semi-submersible rig West Aquarius in around 1100m of water.
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