Vår Energi is evaluating its latest commercial discovery as a potential fast-track tie-in to its Fenja field in the Norwegian Sea.
The operator announced on 21 July that it had made a commercial gas and condensate discovery in Production License 586 with the Vidsyn exploration well on the Vidsyn ridge. The Vidsyn well confirmed 25 million to 40 million BOE gross recoverable resources, Vår Energi said. The company said it plans to assess the remaining potential of the ridge, which has the potential to hold up to 100 million BOE. The appraisal program also aims to facilitate a fast-track development through the existing Fenja subsea infrastructure, which is tied into the Equinor-operated Njord field facilities 35 km away.
Luca Dragonetti, Vår Energi’s senior vice president for exploration, said in a news release that the discovery unlocked “a much larger potential along the ridge” and added high-value barrels to be developed through existing infrastructure.
The company said the well encountered very good quality Middle Jurassic reservoirs with over 200 m of hydrocarbon column updip of a previous exploration well.
DNO Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani said in a news release that the license partners would “work hard to put it into production faster than is the norm in Norway.”
The Deepsea Yantai drilled wildcat well 6406/11-2 S to 3857 m vertical depth below sea level. It was the eighth wildcat well to be drilled in PL 586, which was awarded in 2011. The well, which will be permanently plugged and abandoned, was drilled in 310 m water depth.
The Norwegian Offshore Directorate said the primary exploration target for the well was to prove petroleum in Lower to Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks in the Ile Formation. Well 6406/11-2 S encountered a gas/condensate column of around 110 m in the Ile Formation in a sandstone reservoir with moderate to good reservoir properties. The reservoir was around 145 m thick. The petroleum/water contact was encountered 3513 m below sea level. The total column is in excess of 210 m.
The secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in Lower Jurassic reservoir rocks in the Tilje and Tofte formations. In the secondary exploration targets in the Tilje and Tofte formations, aquiferous sandstones were encountered, with moderate reservoir quality.
Vår Energi operates the license with 75% interest on behalf of partner DNO, which previously held 7.5% interest and now holds 25% interest following the acquisition of Sval Energi, which owned 17.5% interest.
