Vår Energi and Equinor have made a gas and condensate discovery at the Lakris prospect in the Gimsan Basin on the Halten Terrace in the Norwegian Sea. The Norwegian Offshore Directorate puts the preliminary size at 0.2 to 0.9 million standard cubic meters of recoverable oil equivalent, or 1.3 to 5.5 million barrels.
The wildcat well, 6407/5-3 S, was drilled about 170 kilometers northwest of Kristiansund by the Cosl Prospector rig. It is the first exploration well in production license 1002, which was awarded in the 2018 APA round on 1 March 2019. Vår is operator, and Equinor is the other licensee.
What the well found
The well hit gas and condensate in the upper Tilje Formation, in reservoir rocks totaling 54 meters. The directorate describes the reservoir quality as moderate to poor. The gas/water contact was not reached. Hydrocarbon shows were proven in the lower Tilje Formation.
The other targets did less. The well found no sandstone reservoir in the Nise Formation, although it recorded elevated gas values in that interval. The Garn, Ile and Tofte formations were also investigated. Those intervals held water, and their reservoir quality was moderate to poor.
Well status
The well was not formation-tested, but data and samples were collected. It reached a vertical depth of 4,225 meters below sea level and ended in the Lower Jurassic. Water depth at the site is 218 meters. The well will now be permanently plugged and abandoned.
