Wintershall finds oil near Kristin field in Norwegian Sea

STAVANGER, Norway -- Wintershall Norge, the operator of PL589, is about to complete the drilling of wildcat well 6406/2-8 in the Norwegian Sea. The well proved oil.

The wildcat was drilled about 20 km south of Kristin field, in the Norwegian Sea, and 190 km northwest of Kristiansund.

The objective of the well was to prove petroleum in Lower to Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks (Bat and Fangst groups).

The well encountered two oil columns over an approximately 130 m interval in the Bat and Fangst groups in sandstone of generally poor reservoir quality. A preliminary estimation of the size of the discovery is between 1 and 8 MMscm of recoverable oil equivalents.

The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 4,655 m below the sea surface, and was terminated in red sandstone layers in the Middle to Upper Triassic. Water depth at the site is 262 m. The well will now be permanently plugged and abandoned. This is the first exploration well in PL589, which was awarded in APA 2010.

The licensees will assess the discovery with regard to further follow-up. The well was not formation tested, but extensive data acquisition and sampling have taken place.

Well 6406/2-8 was drilled by the Transocean Arctic drilling facility, which will now drill wildcat well 35/12-5 S in PL378 in the North Sea, where Wintershall Norge is the operator.