Vår Energi and its partners, including Equinor, DNO Norge, and Petoro, drilled an exploratory well named 25/8-24 S off the coast of Norway, which yielded no results. This well is located in production license 1203, 20 kilometers northwest of the Ringhorne facilities and 190 kilometers west of Stavanger, and it is the first well drilled in this license granted in March 2024.
Drilling Details and Results
The well 25/8-24 S was drilled using the COSL Pioneer rig and reached a vertical depth of 3,417 meters below sea level. This well terminated in a layer known as the Smith Bank Formation. The main exploratory objective of this well was to prove the presence of oil in the Statfjord Formation from the Triassic to early Jurassic period, while the secondary objective was to prove the presence of oil in the Skagerrak Formation.
The well 25/8-24 S identified a reservoir in the upper layer of the Statfjord Formation with a total thickness of 81 meters, of which 64 meters consisted of reservoir-quality sandstone. This reservoir has an aquifer. A lower layer of the Statfjord Formation was also identified with a total thickness of 53 meters, of which 23 meters consisted of reservoir-quality sandstone.
Layer Analysis and Implications
In the secondary exploratory objective, this well identified the Skagerrak Formation with a total thickness of 161 meters. This layer includes two thick sandstone layers with average reservoir characteristics and several thin sandstone layers with poor reservoir characteristics. Below the Skagerrak Formation, this well identified rocks with poor reservoir quality likely related to the Smith Bank Formation from the early to mid-Triassic period. According to information received from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, weak hydrocarbon indications in the Smith Bank Formation cannot be overlooked.
This well did not pass formation tests, but a large volume of data was collected. The water depth at the drilling site is 127 meters, and the well was permanently plugged and abandoned.
