The hydrocarbon discovery was made through the drilling of wildcat well 35/10-10 S and confirmed by the drilling of appraisal sidetrack well 35/10-10 A
Wellesley Petroleum announces discovery of gas-condensate and oil in PL1148 in Norwegian North Sea. (Credit: Wellesley Petroleum)
Wellesley Petroleum has made a gas-condensate and light oil discovery in production licence 1148 (PL1148), 25km northwest of the Troll field in the Norwegian North Sea.
The hydrocarbon discovery was made through the drilling of wildcat well 35/10-10 S and confirmed by the drilling of appraisal sidetrack well 35/10-10 A.
The wells, which targeted the Carmen prospect, were drilled 150km northwest of Bergen with the Deepsea Yantai rig.
PL1148 is operated by Wellesley Petroleum with a stake of 50%. Other partners in the licence are DNO, Equinor, and AkerBP, which own stakes of 30%, 10%, and 10%, respectively.
Wellesley Petroleum said that the 35/10-10 S well intersected a gas-condensate column of 210m in the Ness, Etive, and Oseberg formations, of which 90m is in sandstone layers with poor to good permeability.
A 70m gas-condensate column was also found in the Cook formation, of which 23m is sandstone with poor permeability.
The well has also encountered a 13m light oil column in sandstones in the Early Jurassic Amundsen formation. However, the 35/10-10 S well did not encounter any formation water.
Drilled down-dip, 900m west of the main bore, the 35/10-10 A well discovered a 240m column of gas and volatile oil in the Ness, Etive, Oseberg, and Cook formations, of which 50m is in sandstone strata with relatively low permeability.
The well also made contact with water-filled sandstone of good reservoir quality in the Cook formation.
According to Wellesley Petroleum’s estimates, the drilling campaigns proved the presence of a developable gas-condensate accumulation of 60-100 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe).
Furthermore, estimates from the 35/10-A appraisal well indicate the possibility for significant upside volumes, with up to 300mmboe potentially being recoverable in and around the accumulation. This will be contingent on the success of exploration and further appraisal efforts.
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) said that the licensees will commence early-phase development studies and are mulling the drilling of additional appraisal wells in the discovery.
Wellesley Petroleum CEO Chris Elliott said: “Carmen is Wellesley’s sixth commercial discovery in our core Troll area portfolio, and once again validates our geological model for the Middle Jurassic play. Having divested the greater part of our discovered resources in recent months it is very heartening to recharge our portfolio so quickly.
“Carmen is well positioned to join and add value to the ongoing area development programme for the other recent discoveries in the greater Troll area.
“Wellesley will use the early phase development experience gained from our stewardship of the Grosbeak discovery to move the Carmen project forward efficiently.”