Wintershall to Complete Drilling of 6407/1-5 S Well

Wintershall Norge AS, operator of production licence 475 BS, is in the process of completing the drilling of appraisal well 6407/1-5 S.

The appraisal well was drilled around 20 kilometres east of the Kristin field in the Norwegian Sea and about 8 kilometres northeast of discovery well 6406/3-8. The discovery was proven in 2010 in Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks (the Garn formation). Before well 6407/1-5 S was drilled, the operator’s resource estimate for the discovery was between 10 and 20 million standard cubic metres of recoverable oil (Sm3) and between 2 and 5 billion Sm3 of recoverable gas.

The purpose of well 6407/1-5 S was to delineate discovery 6406/3-8 to the north. The well encountered a 39-metre thick oil column in the Garn formation with reservoir and reservoir quality as expected. The oil-water contact in well 6407/1-5 S is the same as in the discovery well, and pressure data indicates communication between north and south. With that, the discovery is delineated to the north. Preliminary calculations confirm earlier resource estimates, though at the upper end of the discovery estimate.

A successful formation test has been carried out over a short reservoir interval. The maximum production rate was, respectively, 140 standard cubic metres (Sm3) of oil and 20,300 Sm3 of gas per flow day through a 40/64” nozzle opening.

The licensees will now assess alternative development solutions for the discovery.

The well is the second exploration well in production licence 475 BS. The licence was awarded in APA 2008. Wintershall Norge AS is the operator, with a 50 per cent share. The other licensees are Petoro AS (30 per cent) and Centrica Resources AS (20 per cent).

The well was drilled to a total depth of 4,133 metres below the sea surface and terminated in the Tilje formation in the Lower Jurassic. The sea depth is 297 metres. The well will now be permanently plugged and abandoned.

Well 6407/5-1 S was drilled by the drilling facility Borgland Dolphin, which will now head to licence 102 C to drill 25/5-D-1 H Atla, where Total E&P Norge AS is the operator.

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Offshore Nieuws Staff, May 22, 2012; Image : NPD