Operator Statoil has together with PL035 partners completed a two-well programme in the Krafla area in the North Sea.

Since 2011 significant new recoverable resources have been proven in the area, Statoil said in the press release.

According to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD), the 30/11-8 S discovery was proven in the summer of 2011 in Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks about 25 kilometers southwest of the field facility on the Oseberg Sør field in the northern part of the North Sea. After drilling the discovery well 30/11-8 S, the operator’s resource estimate was between 2 and 9 million standard cubic metres (Sm³) of recoverable oil equivalents.

Appraisal well 30/11-10 A was drilled into the reservoir north of discovery well 30/11-8 S. The purpose of the well was to delineate the 30/11-8 S discovery.

According to NPD, the well encountered a total oil column of about 260 metres in the Tarbert formation, divided between the upper and middle Tarbert formation with columns of 110 and 150 metres, respectively. The reservoir rocks in the upper and middle Tarbert formation consist of 30 and 55 metres of sandstone of good reservoir quality.

The preliminary size of the discovery is calculated at between 8 and 13 million standard cubic metres (Sm3) of recoverable oil equivalents.

The Krafla Main Tarbert appraisal well and the small oil discovery in the Krafla North prospect in December has increased the robustness of the Krafla field development project, the company added.

“Since 2011 we have made five discoveries in the Krafla area which includes the licences PL035 and PL272: Krafla Main, Krafla West, Askja West, Askja East and Krafla North,” says Irene Rummelhoff, Statoil senior vice president for exploration on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS).

“Altogether we expect to have discovered recoverable resources in a range of 140-220 million barrels of oil equivalent just 25 kilometres southwest of Oseberg South and 150 kilometres west of Bergen. These are very substantial volumes for a mature area of the shelf,” says Rummelhoff.

Statoil puts a lot of effort into unlocking the full potential of the mature areas of the NCS, both through increased recovery initiatives in producing fields and targeted exploration programmes in surrounding areas, the press release further reads.

According to the company, the discoveries in the Krafla area once again demonstrate that growth opportunities still exist in the North Sea.

“Statoil has a unique role as an area architect in the mature parts of the NCS with long experience in developing new discoveries by utilising existing infrastructure,” says Knut Skjoldli, vice president field development west in Statoil.

Statoil is the operator of PL035/PL272 with an interest of 50%. The partners are Svenska Petroleum Exploration AS (25%) and Det norske oljeselskap ASA (25%).

The well 30/11-10 A is the ninth exploration well in production licence 035, which was awarded in the 2nd licensing round in 1969. It was drilled with the Transocean Leader semi-submersible drilling rig, which has thus completed its drilling assignments for Statoil.

Source: www.offshoreenergytoday.com

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