Two drilling strikes in a row for Aker BP as another North Sea well comes up empty

Norwegian oil and gas player Aker BP has drilled another dry well in the North Sea off the coast of Norway. These drilling activities were conducted by one of Odfjell Drilling’s semi-submersible rigs.

Almost two months after Aker BP found no hydrocarbons in the wildcat well 34/6-7 S at the Kaldafjell prospect in the northern part of the North Sea, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) disclosed that the Norwegian player had no better luck in the wildcat well 35/6-5 S at the Njargasas prospect, as it also turned out to be dry.

The company secured a drilling permit last year for the wellbore 35/6-5 S in production license 1110, which was awarded on February 19, 2021, and is valid until February 19, 2029. In addition, the Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority Norway (Havtil) greenlighted the drilling of the exploration well in block 35/6.

Aker BP has an ownership interest of 55% and acts as the operator, while its license partners are Vår Energi (30%) and Wintershall Dea Norge (15%). The water depth at the location is around 332 meters.

As the objective of the well was to prove petroleum in Lower Cretaceous reservoir rocks in the Agat Formation, the 35/6-5 S well achieved its goal at a total depth of 176 meters, of which 97 meters consisted of sandstone layers with poor to moderate reservoir quality.

Therefore, the well, which was drilled to a vertical depth of 3,933 meters below sea level and terminated in the Åsgard Formation in the Lower Cretaceous, is classified as dry. The 35/6-5 S well has been permanently plugged and abandoned.

This was the first well in the license, and the drilling was carried out north of the Gjøa field, an area where a significant interest has been recovered in recent years, with several production licenses awarded.

The well was drilled with the 2009-built Deepsea Nordkapp, former Stena Midmax, semi-submersible drilling rig, which Odfjell Drilling bought from Samsung Heavy in April 2018. This is a sixth-generation dynamically positioned harsh environment and winterized semi-submersible of a Moss-enhanced CS 60E design.

The rig owner was one of the three contractors that entered into drilling and wells alliance agreements in January 2023 with Aker BP for work on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). The two players agreed to prolong the rig’s work in December 2023 for two years.