Estimates Slashed for Norwegian Gas Find
Resource estimates for the Balderbra gas discovery off Norway have been more than halved, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) said on February 26, after an appraisal well at the site turned up dry.
Germany's Wintershall Dea and its Norwegian partners Equinor and Petoro sank the well 113 km southwest of the Aasta Hansteen field in the Norwegian Sea, at production licence 894. Their objective was to appraise the 2018 Balderbra gas discovery.
The borehole, drilled to a 3,816-metre depth, encountered only traces of gas and was unable to confirm pressure communication with the discovery well. It has therefore been classified dry.
The estimate for Balderbra's recoverable gas resources have subsequently been reduced from 7-19bn to 3-8bn m3, the NPD said, while the estimate for its condensate reserves has been cut from 1-3mn to 0.2-1.0mn m3.
This is the third well to be drilled at production licence 894, awarded in 2016. In addition to the discovery well, a wildcat was completed last month which also turned up dry. Wintershall operates the licence with a 40% stake, while Equinor and Petoro have interests of 40% and 20% respectively.