The well was drilled by the Deepsea Stavanger drilling facility. Photo: Odjell Drilling

Equinor, operator of production licence 265, has concluded the drilling of appraisal well 16/2-23 S.

The well was drilled about 7.5 kilometres east of the Edvard Grieg field and 10 kilometres west of the Johan Sverdrup field in the North Sea.

The discovery was proven in 2009 in reservoir rocks presumably from the Jurassic/Triassic.

Before well 16/2-23 S was drilled, the resource estimate for the discovery was between 1 and 2.9 billion Sm3 of recoverable gas.

The objective of the well was to delineate the 16/2-5 discovery and to prove additional volumes of petroleum in a graben structure from the Jurassic/Triassic with better reservoir properties, in the southern part of the Utsira High.

The well encountered traces of hydrocarbons in conglomerate rock presumably from the Jurassic/Triassic with poor reservoir quality.

The reservoir interval in the 16/2-5 gas discovery was cored in the appraisal well, which encountered graben-filled sediments with a thickness of around 260 metres, with conglomerate rocks with poor reservoir quality. Traces of oil were encountered in an interval of around 80 metres.

The well is classified as dry with traces of hydrocarbons. Pressure points in the water zone confirm communication with the discovery in well 16/2-5, made in 2009.

The result of 16/2-23 S indicates that the resources have been considerably reduced compared with previous estimates. The revision of the volumes for the 16/2-5 discovery will be completed when final data from the well is available.

Extensive data acquisition has been conducted in the well. Hydrocarbon gradients could not be established, and no liquid samples were taken.

This is the 18th exploration well in production licence 265.

The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 2100 metres below sea level and terminated in conglomerates presumably from the Jurassic/Triassic.

Water depth at the site is 110 metres.

The well has been permanently plugged and abandoned. The well was drilled by the Deepsea Stavanger drilling facility, which will now drill wildcat well 35/10-9 in production licence 827 S, where Equinor Energy AS is the operator.

KeyFacts Energy: Equinor Norway country profile