NPD said that the well encountered sandy, but mainly tight intervals following drilling in the Havert formation
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Equinor Energy has drilled a dry well near its Korpfjell gas discovery located in production licence (PL) 859 in the Barents Sea.
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) said that Equinor has drilled well 7335/3-1 to a vertical depth of 4268m below the sea surface using West Hercules drilling facility.
The well has been drilled about 8km southeast of the 7435/12-1 (Korpfjell) gas discovery, and about 435km north of Vardø.
Equinor aimed at validating petroleum in reservoir rocks from the Early Triassic Age (upper and lower part of the Havert formation), as part of primary exploration target for the well.
The well’s secondary exploration target was aimed to determine the presence of petroleum and reservoir rocks in the Snadd and Kobbe formations from the Middle to Late Triassic Age.
NPD said that the well encountered sandy, but mainly tight intervals following drilling in the Havert formation, as well as in the overlying Klappmyss formation (from the Early to Middle Triassic Age).
Equinor encountered sandy zones in the secondary exploration target in the Kobbe formation over an interval of about 125m as well as sandy intervals were with poor reservoir quality in the Snadd formation including some thin sandstone layers in the Triassic revealed traces of gas.
NPD said in a statement: “The Realgrunnen subgroup (from the Late Triassic to Middle Jurassic Age) was not an exploration target for the well, but around 170 metres of sandstone reservoir of moderate to good quality were proven. The well is classified as dry.”
The wildcat well 7335/3-1 is permanently plugged and abandoned
The well 7335/3-1 was terminated in the lower part of the Havert formation. It has been permanently plugged and abandoned.
The wildcat well is the second exploration well in production licence 859, which was awarded in the 23rd licensing round in 2016.
The West Hercules drilling facility will now drill wildcat well 7324/6-1 in production licence 855 in the Barents Sea. Equinor Energy is the operator of the production licence 859 and production licence 855.