Oil and gas discovery in the North Sea (31/1-4)
12/17/2024 Equinor and its partners have discovered oil and gas in wildcat well 31/1-4 (“Ringand) in the North Sea.
Preliminary estimates indicate the size of the discovery is between 0.3 and 2 million standard cubic metres (Sm3) of recoverable oil equivalent, which corresponds to 1.9-12.6 million barrels.
Well 31/1-4 was drilled by the Deepsea Atlantic rig. Production licence 923 borders Troll øst and the Fram area. Previous discoveries made in the area include 31/1-2 S (“Røver nord”) and 31/1-3 S (“Røver sør”).
The licensees have assessed the previous discoveries as commercially profitable, and they will consider development solutions tied back to existing infrastructure.
“Ringand” was exploration well number seven in production licence 923/ 923B. This well is registered as the first well in production licence 923 B.
Production licence 923 was part of the Awards in Predefined Areas - APA 2017 – awarded in 2018, and production licence 923 B was awarded in 2022 (APA 2021)
Geological information
The primary exploration target for the well was to prove petroleum in Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks in the Ness, Etive and Oseberg formations. The secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in Lower Jurassic reservoir rocks in the Cook Formation.
Well 31/1-4 encountered a 112-metre gas column in the Ness, Etive and Oseberg formations, as well as a 16-metre oil column in the Oseberg Formation.
There were 14 metres of poor-quality sandstone reservoir in the Ness Formation and 46 metres of sandstone reservoir in the Etive and Oseberg formations, with poor to moderate quality.
In addition, a 13-metre gas column was encountered in sandstone with moderate reservoir quality in the Drake Formation.
The well encountered a 6-metre aquiferous sandstone layer with moderate reservoir quality in the Cook Formation.
The well was not formation-tested, but extensive data acquisition and sampling have been carried out.
The gas/oil contact was encountered at 3489 metres and the oil/water contact was encountered at 3505 metres below sea level.
Well 31/1-4 was drilled to a vertical depth of 3772 metres below sea level, and was terminated in the Amundsen Formation in the Lower Jurassic.
Water depth at the site is 304 metres. The well has been permanently plugged and abandoned.
Updated: 12/17/2024