Sokkeldirektoratet

Oil discovery near the Snorre field in the North Sea – 34/4-15 S and 34/4-15 A

8/5/2020 Neptune Energy Norge AS, operator of production licence 882, has completed the drilling of wildcat well 34/4-15 S and appraisal well 34/4-15 A.

The wells were drilled about 10 kilometres northwest of the Snorre field and 160 kilometres west of Florø in the northern part of the North Sea.

The primary exploration target for well 34/4-15 S was to prove petroleum in reservoir rocks from the Middle Jurassic Age (the Rannoch Formation).

The secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in reservoir rocks from the Late Jurassic Age (Intra Draupne Formation sandstone).

An oil column of about 80 metres was encountered in the primary exploration target in the Rannoch Formation, 50 metres of which are sandstone with generally moderate reservoir quality. The oil/water contact was not encountered.

A sandstone layer of a few metres was encountered in the secondary exploration target in the Intra Draupne Formation, with poor reservoir quality and traces of petroleum.

The primary objective of well 34/4-15 A was to delineate the discovery in well 34/4-15 S in the Rannoch Formation.

The secondary exploration objective was to prove petroleum in reservoir rocks from the Late Jurassic Age (Intra Draupne Formation sandstone).

An oil column of about 80 metres was encountered in the primary exploration target in the Rannoch Formation, 17 metres of which are reservoir sandstone of generally poor reservoir quality. The oil/water contact has not yet been determined.

An oil column of about 100 metres was encountered in the secondary exploration target in the Intra Draupne Formation sandstone, 55 metres of which are in sandstone of poor to moderate reservoir quality.

Preliminary estimates place the size of the discovery in the Rannoch Formation between 5 and 14 million standard cubic metres (Sm3) of recoverable oil.

Preliminary estimates place the size of the discovery in the Intra Draupne Formation sandstone between 1.6 and 5 million standard cubic metres (Sm3) of recoverable oil.

The discovery will be considered for tie-in to nearby infrastructure.

The wells were not formation-tested, but extensive data acquisition and sampling were carried out.

These are the first and second exploration wells in production licence 882. Production licence 882 was awarded in APA 2016.

Wells 34/4-15 S and 34/4-15 A were drilled to respective vertical depths of 3430 and 3573 metres below sea level and respective measured depths of 3571 and 3844 metres, below sea level.

The wells were terminated in rocks from the Early Jurassic Age (the Drake Formation).

Water depth at the site is 332 metres. The wells will now be permanently plugged and abandoned.

The wells were drilled by the Deepsea Yantai drilling facility, which will now proceed to drill production wells in production licence 153 on the Gjøa field in the northeastern part of the North Sea, where Neptune Energy Norge AS is the operator.

 

Map of well 3-4-15

Contact
postboks@sodir.no

Tel: +47 51 87 60 00

Updated: 2/10/2025

Latest news

Production figures October 2025
11/20/2025 Preliminary production figures for October 2025 show an average daily production of 2 017 000 barrels of oil, NGL and condensate.
Drilling permit for well 33/12-N-3 GH and 33/12-N-3 HH
11/20/2025 The Norwegian Offshore Directorate has granted Equinor Energy AS drilling permit for wellbore 33/12-N-3 GH in production licence 037 B/152 and 33/12-N-3 HH in production licence 037 B/277.
Dry well in the North Sea (2/6-8 S and 2/6-8 ST2)
11/18/2025 DNO and its partners have drilled a dry well in the "Page" prospect in the southern part of the North Sea, about 270 kilometres from Stavanger and 40 kilometres from Ekofisk.
What would you like to learn more about at Technology Day 2026?
11/17/2025 The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate is pleased to announce Technology Day 2026. Save the date – 4 June 2026 – and take this opportunity to nominate speakers for the event!
New Dashboard: Resource stats by company
11/14/2025 Our new Dashboard provides an overview of the licensees’ respective petroleum resources and reserves on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS).
Delineation of the “Zagato” oil discovery in the Barents Sea – 7122/8-4 S
11/13/2025 Vår Energi's appraisal well 7122/8-4 S confirms the 7122/8-3 S (“Zagato”) oil discovery, which was proven in February.
New technology is profitable when shutting down wells
11/13/2025 About 2900 wellbores on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) will be plugged and shut down in the years to come, but development and implementation of new technology can save the industry and society considerable costs.
Dry well in the North Sea (34/6-9 S)
11/11/2025 Equinor and its partners have drilled a dry well in the Snorre area in the North Sea.
Dry well in the North Sea (30/11-16 S)
11/7/2025 Aker BP and its partners have drilled a dry well in the Yggdrasil area in the North Sea.
Drilling permit for wellbore 7220/7-5
11/7/2025 The Norwegian Offshore Directorate has granted Equinor Energy AS drilling permit for wellbore 7220/7-5 in production licence 532.