Equinor Is Thriving In Norwegian Sea
Equinor with its partners Ineos E&P and Faroe Petroleum have made an oil and gas discovery in exploration well Snadd Outer in Norwegian Sea. The well had two different drill targets that includes an upper drilling target that contain 2-12 MMboe of gas and a lower target with an estimated volume of 1-48 MMbbl of recoverable oil equivalent.
“We are very pleased with the results of both targets. This was of course what we hoped for, and it isn’t given that we find both oil and gas in the same well. The volumes are broadly estimated, and operational challenges prevented side-tracking. We are evaluating both the time and place for further delineation to give us more accurate volume estimates,” said Nick Ashton, Equinor’s senior V.P. for exploration in Norway and the UK.
The drilling started last April 27th around 14 km southwest of Norne field in the northern part of the Norwegian Sea. The operation started at 2800m to the first target, the second target started at 3200m hit oil. The estimated well volume total is 3-60 MMboe
“The deepest target is following up the Cape Vulture discovery of 2017, offering further opportunities on the Nordland Ridge, and we are very happy about today’s discovery. Snadd Outer Outer/Black Vulture and Cape Vulture combined have in fact proven to be a success story for cretaceous reservoirs off the coast of Nordland, encouraging us to pursue further opportunities in the area going forward,” said Ashton.
Since 2017 Equinor has found with their partner 11 discoveries in eight wells.
“The Norwegian Sea has created considerable value and many jobs since Norne was found in 1992. In these waters Equinor operates around 800,000 boe every day, constituting about a fifth of Norway’s daily production of oil, gas and condensate. We will increase our exploration activity in the Norwegian Sea in the time ahead. This was reflected in the previous licencing round for Awards in Predefined Areas (APA), in which we were awarded 16 production licenses in the Norwegian Sea,” says Ashton.
“Tying the discovery to the Norne ship is one of the options we will study. Snadd Outer Outer/Black Vulture is located close to the Norne field with all its infrastructure, and this option is in line with Equinor’s strategy of using existing solutions. The Cape Vulture discovery has already more than doubled remaining oil resources that can be produced through the Norne field, and we have a specific goal of further increasing the reserves around the Norne field,” said Ashton.
It has been a success for Equinor.