Aker BP ASA, operator of production licence 919, has concluded the drilling of wildcat well 25/4-15.

The well was drilled about 5 kilometres west of the Vilje field in the North Sea, and 215 kilometres west of Stavanger.

The objective of the well was to prove petroleum in Paleocene reservoir rocks in the Heimdal Formation.

Well 25/4-15 encountered a 31.5-metre oil column in the Heimdal Formation, 29 metres of which was a sandstone reservoir with good reservoir quality. The Heimdal Formation was 187 metres thick in total.

The oil/water contact was encountered at 2253 metres below sea level, and the contact was confirmed with pressure points. A 1.5-metre zone of residual oil was also encountered in deeper Heimdal sand with good reservoir quality.

Preliminary calculations place the size of the discovery between 0.5 and 0.8 million standard cubic metres (Sm3) of recoverable oil. The licensees will assess the discovery alongside other discoveries in the vicinity with a view towards possible development.

Small-scale formation tests were conducted, and data acquisition and sampling were also carried out.

This is the first exploration well in production licence 919, which was awarded in APA 2017.

25/4-15 was drilled to a vertical depth of 2375 metres below sea level and was terminated in the Heimdal Formation in the Palaeocene.

The water depth is 119 metres. The well has now been permanently plugged and abandoned.

Well 25/4-15 was drilled by the Scarabeo 8 drilling facility, which is now moving on to drill wildcat well 25/2-24 S in production licence 873, where Aker BP ASA is the operator.

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