The “Norma” well was drilled by the Deepsea Yantai exploration rig about 20 km north of the Balder field in the central part of the North Sea and 215 km west of Stavanger.

This well result is important for future exploration and development in the area. The licensees will further assess the well result to delineate the discovery and investigate nearby prospects in the production licence.

DNO Norge is the operator with 30 per cent of the production licence. The other licensees are Equinor (20 per cent), Aker BP (10 per cent), Vår Energi (20 per cent) and Source Energy (20 per cent).

This is the first exploration well in production licence 984, which was awarded in the Awards in predefined areas (APA) in 2018.

Several exploration wells have previously been drilled in this area. ConocoPhillips drilled 25/7-7 “Busta” in 2019, resulting in the discovery of gas/condensate.

Geological information

The objective of the well was to prove petroleum in Upper Jurassic reservoir rocks in the Draupne Formation.

Well 25/7-11 S encountered a 16-metre gas/condensate column in the Draupne Formation, of which 13 metres were net reservoir in sandstone layers totalling 19 metres with moderate to good reservoir quality. It is uncertain if the petroleum/water contact was encountered.

The well was not formation-tested, but extensive data acquisition and sampling have been performed.

Well 25/7-11 S was drilled to 4786 metres below sea level and was terminated in the Heather Formation in the Middle to Upper Jurassic.

Water depth at the site is 122 metres. The well will be permanently plugged and abandoned.