Early tests from a discovery on the Norwegian Sea have been hailed as potentially company-making by partners in the project.
VNG’s production tests on the Pil exploration well, 33km southwest of the Njord field, have exceeded expectations.
The find, drilled by the Transocean Arctic, is now thought to contain up to 170 million barrels of oil and gas reserves, with further drilling being carried out to see if that number could be higher.
Graham Stewart, chief executive of project partners Faroe Petroleum, said initial tests on the site had proved highly successful.
“The Pil well builds substantially on Faroe’s discovered volumes located within tie-back distance of our Njord infrastructure,” he said.
“We look forward to the results of the two sidetracks and proving up further potential on this licence.
“This is an outstanding result for Faroe’s world class exploration team.”
Norway’s Petroleum Directorate said the wildcat well had found better than expected quality oil after uncovering a 226m hydrocarbon column.
Rocksource, which holds a 15% stake in the project, said it was excited by the find.
“The test result has confirmed excellent reservoir properties, and with the operator’s resource estimates we are confident that Pil is a commercial discovery,” said chief executive Chris Spencer.
“The upside potential, both within the Pil closure and in follow-up prospectivity within the licence, means that PL 586 could be a ‘company-maker’ for Rocksource.”
Work will now be carried out on sidetrack wells to assess the full potential of neighbouring targets.
