Gas has been found by StatoilHydro in the Asterix prospect, which lies in 1,360 metres of water 345 kilometres west of Sandnessjøen in the Norwegian Sea.
Preliminary estimates put the proven recoverable volume, which is located 80 kilometres west of the Luva gas discovery, at about 16 billion cubic metres (100 million barrels of oil equivalent).
“This represents one of the bigger discoveries off Norway in recent years, and we’re very pleased with the result,” said Tove Stuhr Sjøblom, StatoilHydro’s head of Norwegian exploration.
The resources are located in Upper Cretaceous reservoir rocks. No formation test was carried out, but extensive data gathering and coring took place in the reservoir.
“The well has proved a new play, and found gas in rocks with good reservoir properties,” said Frode Fasteland, exploration manager for the Norwegian Sea. “This opens exciting opportunities for further exploration in the area.
“Asterix will be considered for development together with Luva and the other nearby discoveries of Haklang and Snefrid South. That could help to lay the basis for a deepwater gas infrastructure in the Norwegian Sea.”
In addition to StatoilHydro as operator, with 70%, licensees in production licence 327B are Petoro with 20% and Norske Shell with 10%.