DNO Norge and OMV have made discoveries offshore Norway with their Norma and Velocette prospects, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) announced on Sept. 27.

DNO’s Norma prospect in the North Sea yielded a discovery of between 2 MMcm and 21 MMcm of recoverable gas and condensate.

The Deepsea Yantai drilled the well in PL984 in 122 m water depth in the central part of the North Sea about 20 km north of the Balder Field.

It is the first exploration well in the license, which was awarded in 2018, although other wells have been drilled in the area, including ConocoPhillips’s Busta well in 2019 that found gas and condensate.

The objective of the Norma well was to prove petroleum in Upper Jurassic reservoir rocks in the Draupne Formation.

Well 25/7-11 S encountered a 16-m gas/condensate column in the formation, of which 13 m were net reservoir in sandstone layers totaling 19 m with moderate to good reservoir quality. It is uncertain if the petroleum/water contact was encountered.

The well was not formation-tested, but extensive data acquisition and sampling have been performed.

According to the NPD, the licensees will further assess the Norma well results to delineate the discovery and investigate nearby prospects in the production license.

DNO operates the license with 30% interest on behalf of partners Equinor with 20%, Vår Energi with 20%, Source Energy with 20% and with 10%.

Velocette find

The Transocean Norge drilled OMV’s 6607/3-1 S well in the Velocette prospect in PL1016 in the Norwegian Sea. The discovery holds up to 1.8 MMcm of recoverable oil equivalent, according to preliminary estimates, and it is about 45 km southeast of the Aasta Hansteen Field. OMV and its partners, Inpex Idemitsu and Longboat Japex, will continue to assess the discovery, according to the NPD.

The Velocette well, in 475 m water depth, is the first to be drilled in the license, which was awarded in 2018. The well was not formation tested, NPD said, but data acquisition and sampling were carried out. The well will be permanently plugged and abandoned.

The objective of the well was to prove petroleum in reservoir rocks in the Nise Formation in the Upper Cretaceous.

Well 6607/3-1 S encountered a gas/condensate column of about 9 m in the Nise Formation, around 5 m of which in a sandstone reservoir with quality varying from moderate to very good. The formation has a total thickness of 55 m. The gas/water contact was encountered in the well. The well was not formation-tested, but data acquisition and sampling have been performed.

Well 6607/3-1 S was drilled to respective vertical and measured depths of 3645 and 3770 m below sea level. The well was terminated in the Nise Formation in the Upper Cretaceous.

OMV operates the license on behalf of Inpex and Longboat.

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