Oil Column News

UK-based independent full-cycle oil and gas company confirmed that Indico-1 well in Colombia reached target depth of 10,604 feet and encountered the Lower Sands of the Une formation.The South America focused oil and gas producer, which owns 30% non-operated working interest in the Indico-1 well, said the Lower Sands package is the same formation which holds the 120 feet oil column discovered at nearby Mariposa, which lies some 6.5 kilometres to the North West of Indico-1.The Mariposa well has produced at a stable rate of approximately 3,200 barrels of oil per day in natural flow from 10 feet of perforations near the top of the 120 feet oil column for over a year…

Statoil has together with PL169 partners proved new oil resources in the D-structure in the vicinity of the Grane field in the North Sea. Well 25/8-18 S, drilled by the rig Transocean Leader, proved an oil column of 25 m in the Heimdal Formation. The estimated volume of the discovery is in the range of 30-80 million barrels of recoverable oil. "We are pleased with having proved new oil resources in the Grane area," said May-Liss Hauknes, Statoil vice president for exploration in the North Sea. "Near-field exploration is an important part of Statoil’s exploration portfolio on the NCS.

Hurricane Energy plc, the UK-based oil and gas company, announced having substantially completed post-well data analysis following the successful testing of the 1km horizontal appraisal well 205/21a-6 in Q2 2014 at the Company's Lancaster oil discovery West of Shetland. The well was optimally located to benefit from a highly connected fault/fracture network and an underlying 300m oil column (Hurricane's - 2C estimate of field ODT). The results from third party analysis combine to demonstrate a very good quality reservoir which could deliver single well rates of 20,000 STB/d - significantly ahead of initial expectations of well productivity.

Drillsearch Energy Limited announced that a new oil discovery at the Balgowan-1 exploration well in PEL 91 on the Western Flank Oil Fairway of the Cooper Basin. Wireline logs carried out at Balgowan-1 have confirmed a 9-metre gross oil column in the McKinlay-Namur and as a result, the well has been cased and suspended as a future oil producer, the 14th discovery in PEL 91. Analysis of the well results is continuing and Drillsearch will provide an update on the size of the discovery in due course. Balgowan-1 is located 3.6 kilometres northeast of the Stunsail-1 oil discovery. Following casing and suspension of Balgowan-1, the rig will now move to drill Burners-1, which is located midway between Balgowan-1 and Stunsail-1.

Norwegian oil explorer Det norske made a small oil discovery in the Arctic Barents Sea with a gross oil column of about 30 metres and much poorer reservoir quality than expected, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said on Monday. Det norske earlier said it found some oil in the prospect but initial volumes did not justify development. Det norske operates the licence and holds a 20 percent stake. Other shareholders include Sweden's Lundin Petroleum (20 percent), Tullow (15 percent), Rocksource (5 percent), Norwegian state holding firm Petoro (30 percent) and Atlantic Petroleum (10 percent).

Operator Statoil has together with PL272 partners made a gas discovery in the Askja West prospect and an oil discovery in the Askja East prospect in the North Sea. The exploration wells  30/11-9 S and 30/11-9 A, drilled by the drilling rig Ocean Vanguard, are located between the Oseberg and Frigg fields and about 13 km southeast of the Statoil-operated Krafla/Krafla West discoveries. Main wellbore 30/11-9 S tested the Askja West prospect and proved a net gas column of 90 metres in Late and Middle Jurassic rocks.

Petrobras's preliminary drilling in the Jupiter Nordeste well, in the Santos Basin, confirms presence of gas & condensate. The new well, which is still being drilled, has reached 5,438 meters. It is located in ultra-deep waters of block BM-S-24, at a water depth of 2,161 meters, and 275 km off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. So far, well 3-BRSA-967A-RJS has detected an oil column of 176 meters in rocks of excellent permeability and porosity. The consortium that holds the concession of block BM-S-24 will proceed with the activities and investments necessary to assess the area…

Petrobras strikes oil deposits in a new discovery in the 'Rights Transfer Area' some 200 km off the coastal city of Rio de Janeiro. Petrobras has discovered good quality oil in the fourth well drilled in the Rights Transfer area in the Santos Basin pre-salt cluster. The well, 3-BRSA-1053-RJS (3-RJS-699), known as Franco SW, is located at a water depth of 2,024 m, some 210 km off the coast of the city of Rio de Janeiro and 17 km south of discovery well 2-ANP-1-RJS (Franco). The discovery was confirmed by good quality cable test oil samples (28º API). They were collected in carbonate rock reservoirs, with rock thicknesses similar to those found in the discovery well. The discovery also confirms the extension of the oil reservoirs in the southern Franco area.

ENI has successfully drilled the appraisal well 7220/5-1 in the Skrugard discovery field 200 kilometres off the Norwegian coast.The well was drilled at a water depth of 388 metres, reaching a total depth of 1,740 metres at a site located approximately 3 kilometres from the Skrugard-1 discovery. A gas column of about 25 metres and an oil column of 48 metres was encountered in the Middle - Lower Jurassic reservoir, Stø & Nordmela Formations. Intensive data collection and sampling have been carried out in the well-bore and the results show a reservoir of excellent quality. The aim of the appraisal well was to prove the hydrocarbon extension in the middle section of the Skrugard structure.

Statoil Makes Major New Oil Discovery in the Barents Sea. Statoil ASA has together with its partners Eni Norge AS and Petoro AS made a substantial oil discovery in the Havis prospect in the same licence as Skrugard (PL532) in the Barents Sea. This is the second high-impact discovery in the North in nine months. Well 7220/7-1, drilled by the drilling rig Aker Barents, has proved a 48 metre gas column and a 128 metre oil column. Statoil estimates the volumes in Havis to be between 200 and 300 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalents (o.e.).

Communication between the Aldous and Avaldsnes oil discoveries in the North Sea has now been confirmed. In combination these discoveries may represent an oil structure of between 500 million and 1.2 billion barrels of recoverable oil equivalent. If the upper part of the interval strikes pay dirt, the discovery will be one of the ten largest oil finds ever on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). Statoil (OSE: STL, NYSE: STO) has a 40% stake both in licence PL 265, where Aldous was discovered, and in PL 501, where the Avaldsnes discovery was made.

Statoil ASA and partners Petoro AS, Det norske oljeselskap ASA and Lundin Norway AS have made a high-impact oil discovery on the Aldous Major South prospect (PL 265) in the North Sea. Well 16/2-8, drilled by the Transocean Leader drilling rig, has identified an approximately 65-meter oil column in Jurassic sandstone. The acquired data confirm that this is a reservoir of excellent quality. Statoil has previously described the well as a high-impact well, and the result confirms…

Statoil, along with partners Eni Norway and Petoro, has made a significant oil discovery on the Skrugard prospect in the Barents Sea. The breakthrough discovery is one of the most important finds on the Norwegian continental shelf in the last decade. Statoil and its partners are in the process of concluding drilling operations on the Skrugard prospect, which is located approximately 100 kilometres north of the Snøhvit gas field in the Barents Sea. The well was drilled with the Polar Pioneer rig, and has proven gas column of 33 metres and an oil column of 90 metres.

A small oil discovery has been made by StatoilHydro in the Titan prospect directly east of northern Visund in the Tampen area of the Norwegian North Sea. Made by exploration wells 34/8-13 A and 34/8-13 S, this strike is estimated to contain 5.6-12.5 million recoverable barrels of oil equivalent. A tie-in to Visund will be assessed. Intended to prove petroleum in the Brent group, the discovery wells were drilled in a structurally complex area. While 13 A found a small oil column in Upper Jurassic sands, the underlying Brent group proved to be an aquifer. Well 13 S, drilled 2.7 kilometres to the south-east, found oil in the Brent group. The wells were drilled from Scarabeo 5, which has moved to PL 199 for a workover of production well 6406/2-S-4 H.

StatoilHydro has struck oil during the drilling of an exploration well and a sidetrack north of the Vigdis East field in the North Sea. The proven recoverable resources are estimated at about 25 million barrels of oil. The well confirmed the existence of a 280-metre oil column in rocks with good reservoir properties. "Our exploration activities close to fields on stream are successful and the discovery again confirms that there is still a great potential in this part of the North Sea," said Tom Dreyer, StatoilHydro's vice president, infrastructure-led exploration, North Sea. The exploration well was drilled into the Vigdis North-East prospect, located 3 kilometres south of the Snorre field.

An oil discovery just north of the Norne field in the Norwegian Sea will be considered for development with the Norne production and storage ship. A well on the North Sea Verona prospect is dry. Drilling of an exploration well on the Dompap prospect off the coast of Nordland county has been completed after proving oil. A sidetrack drilled to establish the oil/water contact in this discovery is also in the process of completion. The Dompap strike represents StatoilHydro’s first oil find in 2009, and the preliminary estimate for recoverable reserves is 25-50 million barrels.

StatoilHydro has completed the drilling of an exploration well on the Nucula discovery, which is located around 110 kilometres east-northeast of the Goliat discovery in the Barents Sea. The purpose of exploration well 7125/4-2 in the StatoilHydro-operated production licence 393 was to delineate the Nucula oil and gas discovery from early 2007, and to explore another segment of the structure. The well confirmed a small oil column in sandstone of the Triassic age. The oil-bearing layers were thin, but showed good production properties. It is too early to reach a conclusion on the size of Nucula.

StatoilHydro has completed the drilling of an appraisal well on the Pan/Pandora gas/oil discovery south of the Visund field in the North Sea. The purpose of well 34/8-14 A was to delineate the 34/8-14 S Pan/Pandora discovery in the northern segment of this structure. "The area south of Visund has a considerable remaining resource potential, and we are very pleased that the expectations as to the northern extension of the discovery now have been confirmed," says the head of infrastructure-led exploration west, May-Liss Hauknes.

The presence of a considerable oil column has been confirmed under the Dagny structure in the , near Sleipner, announced StatoilHydro. The total recoverable volume is estimated at 100-125 million barrels of oil equivalent. Gas has also been proven in the deep-water Snefrid South prospect near the Luva discovery in the . The well is estimated to contain some 4 billion standard cubic metres of recoverable gas. Video available includes views of StatoilHydro’s Sleipner facilities, a gas station in , as well as shots of oil and gas transport by road.

StatolilHydrop is reported the size of the Dagny discovery in the is being upgraded to contain between 130 and 170 million barrels of oil equivalent after drilling of a sidetrack well has been completed. The purpose of the sidetrack drilling was to delineate the Dagny discovery in order to determine the oil/water contact. Including the Ermintrude find the total recoverable volume is estimated at 180-240 million barrels of oil equivalent. The appraisal wells on the Dagny structure confirm that Dagny and Ermintrude…