Dry well in the North Sea (25/8-24 S)

Wildcat well 25/8-24 S was drilled in production licence 1203, 20 kilometres northwest of the Ringhorne installation and 190 kilometres west of Stavanger.

This is the first well drilled in the production licence, which was awarded in March 2024 (APA 2023). The licensees in production licence 1203 are Vår Energi (operator), Equinor, DNO and Petoro.

The well was drilled by the COSL Pioneer rig.

Geological information

The well's primary exploration target was to prove petroleum in the Statfjord Formation in the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic.

The secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in the Skagerrak Formation in the Late Triassic, in addition to proving petroleum in underlying layers.

Well 25/8-24 S encountered a reservoir in the upper Statfjord Formation with a total thickness of 81 metres, 64 metres of which were sandstone with good reservoir quality. The reservoir was aquiferous. The lower Statfjord Formation was encountered with a total thickness of 53 metres, 23 metres of which were sandstone with good reservoir quality. The reservoir was aquiferous.

In the secondary exploration target, the well encountered the Skagerrak Formation with a total thickness of 161 metres. The formation contains two thicker sandstone layers with moderate reservoir properties, in addition to multiple thin sandstone layers with poor reservoir properties. The reservoir was aquiferous.

Under the Skagerrak Formation, the well encountered rocks with poor reservoir quality, most likely the Smith Bank Formation in the Early to Middle Triassic. Weak hydrocarbon indications in the potential Smith Bank Formation cannot be ruled out.

The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 3417 metres below sea level and was terminated in what, so far, is presumed to be the Smith Bank Formation.

The well was not formation-tested, but extensive volumes of data were collected.

Water depth at the site is 127 metres, and the well has been permanently plugged and abandoned.