Preliminary estimations suggest that the size of the oil and gas discovery ranges from 3.8 to 8.9 million standard cubic meters of oil equivalent, which corresponds to 24-56 million barrels of oil equivalent
The Heisenberg oil and gas discovery in the North Sea was made with the help of the Deepsea Stavanger rig. (Credit: Odfjell Drilling)
Equinor has delineated the Heisenberg oil and gas discovery in wells 35/10-11 S and A, located adjacent to the Troll field in the Norwegian North Sea, alongside proving oil in the Hummer prospect.
Preliminary estimations suggest that the discovery’s size ranges from 3.8 to 8.9 million standard cubic meters (Sm3) of oil equivalent. This corresponds to 24-56 million barrels of oil equivalent.
Heisenberg was discovered around this time last year with the help of the Deepsea Stavanger drilling rig, approximately 140km northwest of Bergen. The volumes of the well at the time of discovery were projected at 24-84 million barrels of oil equivalent, with oil being slightly more than gas.
At the time of unveiling the discovery, Equinor stated that Heisenberg is deemed commercially viable, partly due to its ability to leverage the existing infrastructure linked to the Troll B platform.
The main objective of drilling well 35/10-11 S was to further delineate the Heisenberg discovery identified in well 35/10-9 within the lower Hordaland Group during the Eocene period.
Additionally, the secondary target was to explore the Hummer prospect located in the Balder Formation spanning from the upper Paleocene to the lower Eocene.
Before drilling, the resource estimates for Heisenberg ranged from 4.1-9 million standard cubic meters (Sm3) of oil equivalent. On the other hand, preliminary calculations indicate that the size of Hummer ranges between 0.1 and 0.6 million Sm3 of oil equivalent.
According to the Norwegian Offshore Directorate, the 35/10-11 S and A wells represent the initial and secondary wells drilled within production licence 827 SB. The licence encompasses supplementary acreage adjoining production licence 827 S, where the original discovery occurred.
Production licence 827 was granted during the Awards in Pre-defined Areas (APA) in 2015, while the additional acreage, 827 SB, was acquired during APA 2022. Since then, several companies have divested their interests, leaving Equinor with a majority stake of 51% and DNO Norge with a minority interest of 49% as the current licensees.