Exploration well 34/6-5 S encountered an 86-m column in the Cook Formation while drilling the Garantiana West prospect in the North Sea. (Source: Equinor)
Equinor said June 14 that the Garantiana West prospect in the northern North Sea has struck oil, with recoverable resources between an estimated 8 and 23 million barrels of oil equivalent.
“This is the first Equinor-operated well in the production license, and the fifth discovery on the Norwegian continental shelf this year,” Rune Nedregaard, senior vice president of exploration and production south for Equinor, said in a news release. “The discovery is in line with our roadmap of exploring near existing infrastructure in order to increase the commerciality.”
Equinor’s partners on the project are Aker BP and Vår Energi, which is jointly owned by Eni and by HitecVision.
“Garantiana West is considered as a commercial discovery and it is planned to be co-developed as part of the Garantiana Main discovery,” Eni said in a separate news release. “Both are planned to be tied into nearby infrastructure of the producing Snorre field.”
Drilled by the West Hercules drilling rig in production license 554, about 10 km northeast of the Visund Field, exploration well 34/6-5 S encountered an 86-m column in the Cook Formation, the company said. It added an approximately 60-m effective medium-good quality sandstone reservoir was found.
The well, drilled 3,952 m below sea level, also hit sandstones in the Nansen formation. However, the target was deemed dry as the reservoir was filled with water.
Equinor added a successful formation test has been performed, indicating “good flow qualities with stable flowing pressure and low pressure drop, in addition to consistent pressure build-up.”
A technical side-step was made through well 34/6-5 ST2, drilled 3,750 m below sea level, Equinor added. “The well was formation tested, and extensive data acquisition and sampling were carried out.”
Both wells have been permanently plugged and abandoned.
The companies said the discovery confirms their infrastructure-led exploration strategy in the North Sea.
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