Dana makes oil discovery with first well in Norway

The oil was found about 175 kilometers (110 miles) off the western Norway port of Stavanger, in water depths of 90 meters (295 feet), a Norwegian Petroleum Directorate news release said. It was too early to determine the size of the discovery. The site is located between two existing North Sea fields, Sleipner and Varg. One purpose of the well was to prove hydrocarbons in Paleocene sandstones in a prospect named “Storskrymten”.

The well proved oil in parts of 36 meter thick sandstones of the TY Formation at a depth of 2,550 meters. The reservoir section will be sampled and evaluated before a decision to drill a side-track is made. After having collected the necessary samples, the Operator will continue to drill in order to test the potential of another prospect at 3,300 meters, called “Grytkollen”. “Making a discovery in our first exploration well is a good credit to our exploration staff and very exciting,” states CEO Erik Haugane. “We will now investigate if the volumes are sufficient for a commercial development. The discovery is very promising for the other Paleocene prospects mapped in this area, including the Petra-operated PL 408 just north of this discovery.” This is the first exploration well in Production License 337. The license was awarded in APA 2004. The well is being drilled by the jack-up drilling rig “Mærsk Giant”.

Petra ASA (Operator) owns 45% in the field, UK’s Dana Petroleum 25%, and two other Norwegian companies Revus Energy ASA 20% Bridge Energy 10%. (oilvoice)