Garantiana West Prospect, New Oil Discovery in the North Sea
Equinor, Vår Energi and Aker BP announced a new oil discovery in production licence 554 in the North Sea by drilling the exploration well 34/6-5 S in the Garantiana West prospect. Recoverable resources are estimated at between 1.3 and 3.6 million standard cubic metres of oil equivalent, corresponding to 8-23 million barrels of oil equivalent.
“This is the first Equinor-operated well in the production licence, and the fifth discovery on the Norwegian continental shelf this year. The discovery is in line with our roadmap of exploring near existing infrastructure in order to increase the commerciality,” says Rune Nedregaard, senior vice president, Exploration and Production South.
Exploration wells 34/6-5 S and 34/6-5 ST2 on the Garantiana West prospect were drilled some 10 kilometres north-east of the Visund field, and 120 kilometres west of Florø.
The primary exploration target for exploration well 34/6-5 S was to prove hydrocarbons in the Cook formation from the early Jurassic period. The secondary exploration target was to examine the hydrocarbon potential in the Nansen formation from the early Jurassic/late Triassic period.
Well 34/6-5 S encountered a total oil column of 86 metres in the Cook formation. An about 60-metre effective medium-good quality sandstone reservoir was found.
Exploration well 34/6-5 S also encountered sandstones in the Nansen formation, but the reservoir is filled with water, and the exploration target is classified as dry.
A successful formation test has been performed. The test indicates good flow qualities with stable flowing pressure and low pressure drop, in addition to consistent pressure build-up.
The licensees will consider tying in the discovery to the Garantiana field development project.
Due to technical problems in the main trajectory a technical side-step was made through well 34/6-5 ST2. The well was formation tested, and extensive data acquisition and sampling were carried out.
This is the fifth exploration well in production licence 554. The licence was awarded on 19.02.2010 in APA2009. The licensees are Equinor Energy AS, Vår Energi AS and Aker BP ASA.
Well 34/6-5 S was drilled to a vertical depth of 3952 metres below sea level and completed in the Nansen formation from the late Jurassic period. Well 34/6-5 ST2 was drilled to a vertical depth of 3750 metres below sea level, and completed in the upper part of the Amundsen formation. Drilled in 285 metres of water the wells have been permanently plugged and abandoned.
Well 34/6-5 S was drilled by the West Hercules drilling rig, which will now drill the pilot hole in production licences PL272 and 035 (near the discoveries 30/11-8 S (Krafla) and 30/11-9 S (Askja)) in the North Sea.
Vår Energi AS holds a 30% stake in the licence, with Equinor ASA (which is the Operator) holding 40% and Aker BP (30%). The well targeted a neighbouring fault block of the Garantiana discovery, and is located 30 km north of the Snorre Field, in a water depth of 385 m. The well was drilled with the semi-submersible drilling rig West Hercules.
Garantiana West NFW was drilled to a vertical depth of 3983 m below sea level and reached TD in the Jurassic Nansen Formation. The well proved hydrocarbon in the Jurassic Cook FM sands, with a total oil column of approximately 86m. The encountered Cook FM sands were of medium to good reservoir quality. The well has been formation tested with robust results and a maximum production rate of 1,2 KSm3 oil and 3,8 KSm3 gas per day. Extensive data collection and sampling has been performed.
Preliminary estimates place the size of the discovery between 35 and 65 Mboe hydrocarbons in place.
The Garantiana West discovery confirms Vår Energi’s successful Infrastructure-Led Exploration strategy in the North Sea, proofing additional high value barrels close to the nearby Garantiana discovery. Garantiana West is considered as a commercial discovery and it is planned to be co-developed as part of the Garantiana Main discovery, both are planned to be tied into nearby infrastructure of the producing Snorre field.
Vår Energi has ownership in more than 137 licenses and oil and gas production from 35 fields in Norway. Vår Energi operates over the whole Norwegian continental shelf: the Goliat field in the Barents Sea, the Marulk field in the Norwegian Sea and the Balder and Ringhorne fields in the North Sea. The company has an organization with 900 employees with more than 50 years’ experience on the Norwegian continental shelf, built on the previous companies’ heritage offshore Norway. Vår Energi’s current production stands at approximately 300,000 boe per day.