Oil and gas discovery near the Fram field in the North Sea – 35/11-23
11/6/2019 Equinor Energy AS, operator of production licence 090, is in the process of completing the drilling of wildcat well 35/11-23. The well has been drilled about 3 kilometres southwest of the Fram field in the northern part of the North Sea, and 120 kilometres northwest of Bergen.
The primary exploration target for the well was to prove petroleum in the Upper Jurassic Sognefjord Formation. The secondary exploration target for the well was to prove petroleum in the Middle Jurassic Brent Group and to investigate the presence of reservoirs and reservoir quality in the Middle Jurassic Etive and Oseberg Formations.
In the primary exploration target, the well encountered two hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone intervals in the Sognefjord Formation. The uppermost interval has a combined oil and gas column of about 25 metres in sandstone with variable reservoir quality from good to extremely good.
The gas/oil contact was encountered, while the oil/water contact was not encountered. The other interval has an oil column of about 15 metres in sandstone with good to very good reservoir quality. The oil/water contact was encountered.
In the secondary exploration target, the well encountered a total oil and gas column of about 35 metres in the Ness and Etive Formations, whereof 30 metres of sandstone with moderate to very good reservoir quality. The gas/oil and oil/water contacts were encountered.
Preliminary estimates place the size of the discovery between 6 and 16 million standard cubic metres (Sm3) of recoverable oil equivalent. The licensees will consider tying the discovery into existing infrastructure in the Troll-Fram area, but an appraisal well will be drilled on the discovery first. There are also indications of hydrocarbons in a five-metre thick sandstone layer in the Viking Group in the Upper Jurassic directly over the Brent Group, which will be studied more closely.
The well was not formation-tested, but extensive volumes of data have been collected and samples have been taken.
This is the 16th exploration well in production licence 090. The licence was awarded in the 8th licensing round in 1984.
Well 35/11-23 was drilled to a vertical depth of 2946 metres below sea level and was terminated in the Dunlin Group in the Lower Jurassic.
Water depth at the site is 350 metres.
The well will be permanently plugged and abandoned after completing the drilling of appraisal well 35/11-23 A.
Well 35/11-23 was drilled by the Deepsea Atlantic drilling facility which, after drilling 35/11-23 A, will drill production wells on the Snøhvit field in the Barents Sea, where Equinor Energy AS is the operator.
Updated: 2/10/2025