Equinor comes up empty in North Sea well

Norwegian state-owned energy giant Equinor has completed the drilling of an exploration well near the Troll field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea but failed to find hydrocarbons.

The well 31/2-23 S, targeting a prospect named Litago, is located in production licence 923, which is operated by Equinor with a 40 per cent interest, while its partners, DNO Norge, Petoro, and Wellesley Petroleum hold 20 per cent each. This is the fifth exploration well in this licence, which was awarded in APA 2017.

The drilling permit for the well and the consent for exploration drilling in block 31/2 were secured in March 2023. The objective of the well was to prove petroleum in Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks in the Brent Group.

According to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate’s report on Thursday, the well encountered the Brent Group with a thickness of around 135 metres, including sandstone layers of around 80 metres with good reservoir quality. The well is dry and data acquisition has been carried out.

Based on the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate’s statement, the well 31/2-23 S was drilled to a vertical depth of 2,333 metres below sea level and was terminated in the Drake Formation in the Lower Jurassic. The water depth at the site is 343 metres and the well has been permanently plugged and abandoned.

The well 31/2-23 S was drilled by Odfjell Drilling’s Deepsea Stavanger rig, which is now drilling the wildcat well 31/2-24 in the same production licence.

The 2010-built Deepsea Stavanger rig is a sixth-generation deepwater and harsh environment semi-submersible of an enhanced GVA 7500 design.