Statoil Reports Gas Discovery Near Visund Field
Norway’s Statoil reported a gas discovery near the Visund field in the North, according to a note released on Wednesday by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.
‘The well encountered an approx. 31-metre gross gas column in the Tarbert, Ness and Etive formations in the Middle Jurassic, about 20 metres of which were in sandstones with very good reservoir quality,’ reads the communiqué.
The well, which is the 24th exploration well in production licence 120, was awarded in 1985. Its primary exploration target was to prove petroleum on the east flank of the Visund field in Lower Jurassic reservoir rocks. The secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in Lower Jurassic and Upper Triassic reservoir rocks.
‘Data acquisition and sampling were conducted in the well, but it was not formation-tested. Preliminary estimates place the size of the discovery at between 0.5 and 2 million Sm³ recoverable oil equivalents. The licensees in production licence 120 will consider tying this discovery to existing infrastructure in the Visund area,’ explained the note.
Recent preliminary figures suggest Norway is keeping up with the production levels achieved last year, despite reduced production from Draugen, Gullfaks, Skirne, Visund and Volve fields.