Norway’s Equinor has suspended drilling operations on the NO 6610/7-3 Arkenstone exploration well in the North Sea after shallow gas was encountered during the drilling operations.
According to partner OKEA, two pilot wells were drilled to assess the presence of shallow gas above the reservoir, and once gas was encountered drilling, operations were halted. The wells were drilled using Odjfell Drilling semisub Deepsea Atlantic.
Both pilot wells have been securely plugged with cement, and the partners in the license will focus on well engineering to ensure that the Arkenstone well can be drilled safely, accounting for the shallow-gas zone in the upper layers of the formation.
PL 1014 is located approximately 100 km north-east of the Norne field, at a water depth of around 230 m.
Equinor operates the Arkenstone license with an 80% working interest. Partner OKEA holds the remaining 20% stake.
The Deepsea Atlantic will now sail toward PL1119 to spud the Mistral well where OKEA holds a 30% stake.
Elsewhere in the North Sea, Equinor has made a small oil and gas discovery 17 km west of the Troll field. The exploration well 31/1-4 Ringand discovery in production license 923/923B is currently estimated at between 2 and 12 million BOE. Given its size, the discovery will probably not be commercial for development in isolation, according to the operator.
“It's a small discovery, but in an interesting area that we plan to further explore with much existing infrastructure,” said Geir Sørtveit, Equinor's senior vice president for exploration and production west on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. “If more discoveries are made, it may be relevant to combine these to ensure good resource utilization and the best possible economy.”
Equinor operates the find with a 60% working interest. Partners include DNO Norge (20%) and Petoro (20%).
