Statoil continues to delineate resources near King Lear discovery offshore in Norway
Norway’s Statoil (ticker: STO) announced its 2/4-23S well (Julius) discovered gas and condensate in the Ula formation, offshore Norway in the North Sea, southeast of Stavanger. STO estimates that there is 15 to75 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBOE) in the Julius discovery.
Statoil also drilled the Julius well to further delineate its earlier King Lear discovery made in 2012. The company’s press release said that it continues to believe that there is 70 to200 MMBOE of recoverable oil in the King Lear discovery alone.
According to information released by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, the primary exploration target for the well was to prove petroleum in the Upper Jurassic reservoir rocks (the Ula formation) and Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks (the Bryne formation), in addition to delineating King Lear, which was also proven in the Upper Jurassic reservoir rocks (the Farsund formation). The secondary exploration target for the Julius well was to prove petroleum in the Upper Triassic reservoir rocks (the Skagerrak formation).
Source: Statoil
The Julius well encountered 41 meters of gas and condensate-filled sandstone rocks in the Ula formation, with moderate reservoir quality. In the Bryne formation, the well encountered 30 gross meters of water-filled sandstone with poor reservoir quality. In the Farsund formation, Julius encountered a 20-meter thick gas and condensate column, in two zones of five meter thick reservoir rocks with moderate-to-good reservoir quality, which confirmed pressure communication with the King Lear discovery.
The Julius well’s secondary target, the Skagerrak formation, had poor reservoir quality and was water-filled, according to the information released by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.
“The King Lear and Julius discoveries are located in one of the most mature parts of the Norwegian continental shelf – just 20 kilometers north of Ekofisk, the first commercial Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) discovery made 45 years ago,” said Statoil Vice President for Exploration in the North Sea May-Liss Haukness. “The discoveries confirm Statoil’s view that even such mature areas of the NCS still have an interesting exploration potential.”
Both discoveries are located in the PL146/PL333 blocks, which are being developed in partnership with Total E&P Norge (ticker: TOT). Statoil is the operator for both blocks, with a 77.8% ownership stake in the licenses, according to the release announcing the discovery of King Lear. Julius was the 14th exploration well drilled in PLS146, and was drilled to a vertical depth of 5,548 meters below sea level.
