Seven new discoveries so far this year

“It is gratifying that there have been seven new discoveries – and three of these are relatively large,” says Director General Bente Nyland.

“I note that new drilling operations are often delayed and there is a high level of activity on the Norwegian shelf,” she adds.

In the first half of 2011, 21 exploration wells were drilled and eight discoveries were made. The reason why fewer exploration wells have been drilled so far this year is in part due to a delay in starting new drilling operations because ongoing drilling operations take longer than anticipated. The discovery wells this year have been more complicated and have thus taken longer to complete than last year’s wells, e.g. as a result of testing and expanded data acquisition.

New rigs are also getting started later than planned, and this entails consequences for the number of new wells in a tight rig market.

The North Sea

Four discoveries have been made in the North Sea. Three of these contain oil and are located in the northern part, while the last one is a gas/condensate discovery proven in well 2/4-21 in the southern North Sea. The two largest and most promising are the oil discovery made by Wintershall in well 35/9-7 (the ”Skarfjell” prospect) in the Gjøa area, and the gas/condensate discovery in well 2/4-21 (the ”King Lear” prospect) operated by Statoil in the southern North Sea, in the Greater Ekofisk Area. This drilling operation is not yet complete and the discovery has not been appraised. However, the preliminary drilling results indicate interesting gas volumes with a view to building new infrastructure in the area. Consideration has also been given to drilling other prospects in the area.

The Norwegian Sea

In the Norwegian Sea, gas has been proven in well 6507/7-15 S (the ”Zidane 2” prospect), operated by RWE Dea near the Heidrun field. Mærsk made an oil discovery in well 6406/3-9 (the ”T–Rex” prospect). The discovery is small. It is currently being evaluated and no resource figures are available at this time.

The Barents Sea

In the Barents Sea, Statoil made an oil and gas discovery in well 7220/7-1 (the ”Havis” prospect) near the Skrugard discovery. This is the largest discovery made on the Norwegian shelf this year.

Recoverable resources in new discoveries in 2012. Preliminary resource figures: low-high estimate