Oil and gas discovery southwest of the Norne field in the Norwegian Sea – 6507/3-13

The well was drilled about 14 kilometres southwest of the Norne field in the northern part of the Norwegian Sea and 200 kilometres west of Sandnessjøen.

The primary exploration target for the well was to prove petroleum in reservoir rocks from the Late Cretaceous Age (the Lysing formation). The secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in reservoir rocks from the Early Cretaceous Age (the Lange formation). The plan also included drilling an appraisal well, 6507/3-13 A, to delineate potential discoveries in the exploration targets in the Lysing and Lange formations.

Well 6507/3-13 encountered the Lysing formation of about 25 metres, with a gas column of about 5 metres and with variation from poor to good reservoir quality. In the Lange formation, oil and gas were encountered in sandstone layers of about 25 metres, of which 14 metres net sandstone with moderate reservoir properties.

Preliminary estimates place the size of the discovery in the Lysing formation at between 0.3 and 2.0 million standard cubic metres (Sm³) of recoverable oil equivalents and between 0.1 and 8 million standard cubic metres (Sm³) of recoverable oil equivalents in the Lange formation.

The drilling of well 6507/3-13-A to delineate the discovery in the Lange formation was interrupted due to technical problems. For this reason, there is considerable uncertainty regarding the recoverable volumes in the Lange formation. The licensees will assess further delineation of the discovery with regard to a potential development.

The well was not formation-tested, but extensive volumes of data have been collected and samples have been taken.

The well is the fourth exploration well in production licence 159B, which was awarded in licensing round 12-B in 1989.

The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 3380 metres below the sea surface, and it was terminated in the Lyr formation from the Early Cretaceous Age. Water depth at the site is 368 metres. The well will now be permanently plugged and abandoned.

Well 6507/3-13 was drilled by the Transocean Spitsbergen drilling facility, which will now drill wildcat well 16/5-7 in production licence 502 in the North Sea, where Equinor Energy AS is the operator.