Maersk Oil’s discovery near Tyrihans field disappoints
STAVANGER, Norway -- Maersk Oil Norway, operator of production license 510, is about to complete the drilling of wildcat well 6406/6-4 S. The well was drilled about 20 km southwest of Tyrihans field in the Norwegian Sea.
The primary exploration target for the well was to prove petroleum in Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks (the Garn formation). The secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in Middle and Lower Jurassic reservoir rocks (Ile and Tilje formations).
The well encountered a 25-m gas column in the Garn formation, with 102-m thick sandstone with good reservoir quality. The well also encountered 67 m and 45 m thick sandstones with good reservoir quality in the Ile and Tofte formations, respectively, but they were water-filled.
The well drilled 50 m into the Tilje formation, which was also water-filled. The preliminary estimate of the size of the discovery is between 1.5 and 3 million m3 of recoverable oil equivalents. A preliminary assessment shows that the discovery is not profitable today.
The well was not formation-tested, but data acquisition and sampling have been carried out.
This is the first exploration well in production license 510.
Well 6406/6-4 S was drilled to a measured and vertical depth of 4,524 m and 4,484 m below the sea surface, respectively, and was terminated in the Tilje formation in the Lower Jurassic.
Water depth at the site is 261 m. The well will now be permanently plugged and abandoned.
