Equinor makes minor oil discovery in PL 089 near Vigdis field in North Sea

Equinor Energy has made a minor oil discovery in production licence 089 (PL 089) through the drilling of the 34/7-E-4 AH wildcat well near the Vigdis field in the Norwegian North Sea.

The goal of the 34/7-E-4 AH exploratory well was to determine the presence of hydrocarbons in reservoir rocks from the Middle Jurassic Age (the Rannoch Formation), as per the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.

Drilled by the Transocean Norge drilling rig, 34/7-E-4 AH intersected an oil column of around 20 metres in the Rannoch Formation, 18 metres of which are sandstone of good reservoir quality. The oil/water contact was met by the well at a depth of 2479 metres.

Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said that the size of the new oil discovery in PL 089 is 0.9-1.5 million standard cubic metres (Sm3) of recoverable oil, as per preliminary calculation. Equinor is said to presume the discovery to be commercial and will explore tie-in to the nearby Vigdis field.

The 34/7-E-4 AH well was not formation-tested, however, data acquisition and sampling were undertaken. It was spudded as a shallow sidetrack from existing development well 34/7-E-4 H on the Vigdis field, to 2517 metres in vertical depth below sea level and 4459 metres in measured depth.

The wildcat well, which is the 41st exploration well to be drilled in PL 089, was terminated in the Rannoch Formation from the Middle Jurassic Age, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.

Equinor is the operator of PL 089 with a stake of 41% and is partnered by Petoro (30%), Var Energi (16.1%), Idemitsu Petroleum Norge (9.6%), and Wintershall Dea Norge (2.8%).