Dry well in the Barents Sea (7018/5-2)

Wildcat well 7018/5-2 was drilled in production licence 1236, about 190 kilometres west of Hammerfest and about 140 kilometres southwest of the Snøhvit field.

This is the first exploration well in the production licence, which was awarded in 2024 (APA 2023).

The licensees in the production licence are Equinor (operator), Vår Energi and Petoro.

The well was drilled by the COSLProspector rig.

Geological information

The well's primary exploration target was to prove petroleum in Lower Jurassic reservoir rocks in the upper part of the Tubåen Formation.

The well's secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in Middle Jurassic to Upper Triassic reservoir rocks in the Nordmela Formation, the lower part of the Tubåen Formation and the Fruholmen Formation.

Operational challenges during drilling in the Stø and Nordmela formations resulted in a technical sidetrack.

In connection with the primary exploration target, the well encountered the Tubåen Formation with a total thickness of 104 metres, 25 metres of which were sandstone layers with poor to moderate reservoir quality.

In connection with the secondary exploration target, the well encountered the Nordmela Formation with a total thickness of 643 metres, 60 metres of which were sandstone layers with poor to moderate reservoir quality.

The well also encountered the Stø Formation with an overall thickness of 272 metres, 233 metres of which were sandstone layers.

Well 7018/5-2 was drilled to a vertical depth of 1880 metres below sea level and was terminated in the Tubåen Formation in the Lower Jurassic. Secondary exploration targets in the lower Tubåen and Fruholmen formations were not reached.

Water depth at the site is 310 metres, and the well is plugged and abandoned.