Minor oil discovery near the Ekofisk field in the North Sea – 2/5-15

The well was drilled about 14 kilometres east of the Ekofisk field in the southern North Sea and 280 kilometres southwest of Stavanger.

The objective of the well was to prove petroleum in Palaeocene reservoir rocks (intra Lista and Våle Formation sandstones).

Well 2/5-15 encountered oil in the primary target in the Våle formation, 23 metres of which was homogeneous sandstone with poor to moderate reservoir quality.

The oil/water contact was not encountered. Preliminary analyses indicate significant uncertainty with regard to the oil mobility. Further studies are therefore needed before a resource estimate can be made for the discovery.

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

This is the fourth exploration well in production licence 006 C. The licence was carved out from PL 006 in 2000.

Well 2/5-15 was drilled to a vertical depth of 3292 metres below sea level and was terminated in the Ekofisk Formation from the Palaeocene.

Water depth at the site is 67 metres. The well will be plugged and abandoned.

Well 2/5-15 was drilled by the Borgland Dolphin floating rig, which will now drill wildcat well 6306/3-1 S in production licence 937 in the southern part of the Norwegian Sea, where INEOS E&P Norge AS is the operator.