North Sea operator Neptune Energy has confirmed the discovery of fresh, commercial oil in the Norwegian Sea.
Preliminary estimates put the Calypso exploration well at between 1 to 3.5 million standard cubic meters (MSm3) of recoverable oil.
That is the equivalent of between 6 and 22 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe).
Not to be confused with the major find off Cyprus in 2018, Calypso is London-headquartered Neptune’s third discovery in six months on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
Managing director for the independent company in Norway and the UK, Odin Estensen, said: “We actively explore in areas close to existing infrastructure. These near-field discoveries allow for low cost and low carbon developments.
“Initial analysis of Calypso indicates commercial potential. Together with our partners in the Calypso licence we will now study options to effectively develop the discovery using nearby infrastructure.”
Calypso is located within “one of Neptune’s core areas”, about nine miles north-west of the Draugen field and 14m north-east of the Njord A platform.
Well 6407/8-8S was drilled to a vertical depth of 3,496 metres.
It encountered an estimated 8 metre thick gas column and 30 metre thick oil column, in a 131 metre thick Garn Formation sandstone reservoir, of “good to very good quality”.
Spudded by Odfjell Drilling’s Deepsea Yantai semi-submersible, Calypso is divided operator Neptune (30%), OKEA (30%), Pandion Energy (20%) and Vår Energi (20%).
Neptune secured a contract extension for the rig, which kicked off drilling in November, last year, booking it for an additional three wells in Norwegian waters including at Fenja, Ofelia and finally Calypso.
Ofelia was completed in August, with the NPD quoting a resource range of 15.7 – 39 million boe.
Neptune has been the subject of numerous M&A rumours in the last year, with speculation at one stage it was mulling combining with Harbour Energy.