Statoil Petroleum AS, operator of production licence 50, is about to complete the drilling of wildcat well 34/10-52 A and sidetrack 34/10-52 B. The wells proved oil and gas.
The wells were drilled on a fault segment in the southern part of the Gullfaks Sør field, located in the northern part of the North Sea.
The objective was to prove petroleum in Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks (the Brent group), as well as to clarify communication with the producing areas in Gullfaks Sør.
The wells proved oil and gas in a column of approx 120 metres in the upper part of the Brent group. Preliminary estimates of the size of the discovery range between 0.5 and 1.5 million standard cubic metres (Sm3) of recoverable oil equivalents.
The wells have not been formation-tested, but data acquisition and sampling have been carried out. The licensees in production licence 50 are planning to tie-in the discovery to existing infrastructure in the Gullfaks area.
34/10-52 A and B were drilled at vertical depths of 3440 and 3580 metres below the sea surface, respectively. Both wells were terminated in the Drake formation in the Middle Jurassic.
The water depth is 136 metres. The wells will be temporarily plugged for re-use as producers at a later time.
Wells 34/10-52 A and B were drilled by Deepsea Atlantic, which will proceed to shore for modification work after completing this operation, and then continue production drilling on Gullfaks Sør.
[mappress] Source: NPD, August 24, 2011; Image: Odfjell Drilling