The Norwegian oil and gas company has estimated the volumes of the new discovery to be in the range of nine and 35 million barrels of oil equivalent and alongside its partners is considering a tie-back to other discoveries and available infrastructure in the area
The new oil and gas discovery near the Fram field was made through the drilling of the 35/11-26 S and 35/11-26 A wells by the Deepsea Stavanger rig. (Credit: Equinor ASA)
Equinor Energy has made an oil and gas discovery in production licence (PL) 090, near the company-operated Fram field in the Norwegian North Sea.
The new discovery was made in the Troll/Fram area, located in the northern part of the sea. Considered to be commercial, the new oil and gas find marks the ninth successful well in the area in 12 drilling attempts since 2019.
The discovery is the result of the completion of the drilling of wells 35/11-26 S and 35/11-26 A, nearly 4km west of the producing Fram field. The wells are located approximately 130km northwest of Bergen and were drilled by the Deepsea Stavanger rig.
Equinor has estimated the volumes of the new discovery to be in the range of nine and 35 million barrels of oil equivalent. The discovery is made up of mostly oil.
Licensees in PL090 will consider tie-back to other discoveries and available infrastructure in the area, said the Norwegian oil and gas company.
Equinor is the operator of the licence with a 45% stake. Its partners include Vår Energi (25%), INPEX Idemitsu Norge (15%), and Neptune Energy Norge (15%).
Equinor exploration and production west senior vice president Geir Sørtveit said: “It is positive that we can still make such discoveries in an area with a good oil and gas infrastructure, allowing the discoveries to be developed at low costs and with low CO2 emissions.”
Drilled to a vertical depth of 3,409m in the Crino/Mulder prospect, the wildcat well 35/11-26 S intersected a gas column of 7m length and an oil column of 26m in the Heather Formation. The drilling was done in sandstone layers totalling 33m and the reservoir quality is said to be moderate to good.
Well 35/11-26 A, which was drilled to a vertical depth of 3,000m, came across sandstones of moderate to good reservoir quality in the Heather Formation.
Both wells have been permanently plugged and abandoned.