Wildcat exploration wells unearth oil and gas in Equinor’s latest North Sea discovery
(WO) – According to the Norwegian Offshore Directorate, Equinor and its partners have made an offshore oil and gas discovery in wildcat wells 15/3-13 S and 15/3-13 A. The wells are part of the North Sea’s Gundrun field. Drilling was carried out by the Deepsea Stavanger rig.
Preliminary estimates place the size of the discovery between 0.1 and 1.2 MMcm of recoverable oil equivalent in the intra-Draupne Formation, and between 0.4 and 1.3 MMcm of recoverable oil equivalent in the Hugin Formation.
The licensees will assess the well results considering other prospectivity in the area.
Geological information. The offshore wells’ primary exploration target was to prove petroleum in Late Jurassic reservoir rocks in the intra-Draupne Formation, as well as Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks in the Hugin Formation.
The secondary exploration target was to prove reservoir in Early Cretaceous reservoir rocks in the Rødby Formation.
Well 15/3-13 S encountered thin oil-bearing sandstone layers in the intra-Draupne Formation. The oil/water contact was not encountered. In the Hugin Formation, the well encountered a total of 92 m of sandstone with poor reservoir properties.
Gas was encountered in two intervals, with respective thicknesses of 8 and 7 m. The gas/water contact was not encountered.
A sidetrack, 15/3-13 A, was drilled with the objective of delineating the offshore oil and gas discovery.
15/3-13 A encountered oil in an 85 m thick interval in the intra-Draupne Formation, 13 m of which were intermittent sandstone layers with moderate reservoir quality. The oil/water contact was proven 4328 m below sea level.
15/3-13 A also proved about 100 m of sandstone with poor reservoir properties in the Hugin Formation. The entire interval was aquiferous, and no gas/water contact was proven.
No reservoir was encountered in the secondary exploration target, the Rødby Formation in the Lower Cretaceous.
The wells were not formation-tested, but extensive data acquisition and sampling were carried out.
Well 15/3-13 S was drilled to respective measured and vertical depths of 4826 m and 4740 m below sea level. Well 15/3-13 A was drilled to respective measured and vertical depths of 4900 m and 4814 m below sea level. Both wells were terminated in the Sleipner Formation in the Middle Jurassic.
The water depth is 110 m, and the wells have been permanently plugged and abandoned.
Lead image source: Odjfell Drilling
