Norwegian activity on track

Of the 25 exploration wells drilled on the Norwegian Continental Shelf during 1H 2010, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said on 26 July 2010, operators reported five discoveries on the North Sea and four in the Norwegian Sea. Of the 25, 19 wells were wildcats with the remaining six being appraisals of earlier discoveries.

The NPD expects operators to reach its forecast of 40 to 50 exploration wells spudded this year. The NPD said drilling programs are not coming in at the same pace as last year, and noted Statoil's reduction in exploration activity compared with 2009 is a contributing factor.

Two of the five North Sea discoveries in 1H 2010 were minor. Statoil posted the first minor discovery in January with well 34/4-12 S at the Omega Nord prospect in PL057. In PL374 S, BG Norge made a minor discovery in March with the 34/5-1 S, or Blåbær, well. Well 35/5-1 A delineated the discovery with negative results.

Statoil reported a larger discovery in February in the same production license with exploration well 34/4-12 A or Lower Lunde, which has recoverable resources estimated at 1-3mmcm of oil. Det norske reported a discovery in PL460 with well 25/1-11 A (Storklakken) in May. The well has estimated recoverable reserves of 1-2mmcm of oil.

PetroCanada reported the largest discovery of 1H 2010 with its January announcement of finding 6-40mmcm of recoverable oil at PL374A with the 34/4-11 well.

Of the appraisal wells drilled in 1H 2010, two in the North Sea had positive results. Det norske delineated Draupne and been able to adjust its resource estimate to 13.7-18.1mmcm. Draupne is near the Luno find, which Lundin delineated in January. Recoverable esources there have been set at 15mmcm. Lundin plans to drill two wells near Luno in PL338 starting in July and August. According to the NPD, Draupne and Luno are located in one of the most exciting exploration areas on the Norwegian shelf in recent years, near the Ragnarrock, Ermintrude and Dagny discoveries.

The four discoveries in the Norwegian Sea were all drilled close to existing infrastructure. In early April, Centrica discovered hydrocarbons with exploration well 6505/9-2, or Fogelberg, near Åsgard, in PL433, with reserves estimated around 3-15mmcmoe. In PL212, BP Norge found hydrocarbons with exploration well 6507/5-6 S, near the Skarv field, with recoverable resources estimated at 1.6-3mmcm of condensate and 8-14bcm of gas. The well was completed on 10 June.

Statoil made two discoveries in the Norwegian Sea. The 6608/10-14 S well, completed in April in PL128, has recoverable resources estimated at 1-3bcm of gas and 6-10mmcm of oil. Statoil reported the second discovery in May in PL473, near the Mikkel field. Well 6407/26 has recoverable resources of around 2-4 mmcmoe.

Seven exploration wells are in progress, with four in the North Sea and three in the Norwegian Sea. None of the wells have been completed. No drilling has occurred this year in the Barents Sea, but Polar Pioneer is slated to begin a drilling campaign in the sea in October. It will drill the Skrugard prospect for the Statoil-operated PL532. Eni is also having two exploration wells drilled this year in the Barents - one in PL489 and one in PL533.

Operators submitted four plans for development and operation in 1H 2010 for the Norwegian shelf. The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate expects to receive two or three more PDOs in 2H 2010. This is in line with the NPD's estimates at the beginning of the year.

Statoil submitted a PDO for Gudrun and Sigrun. BG submitted a plan for Pi Sør and Pi Nord (now Gaupe). Eni submitted a PDO for Marulk, and ConocoPhillips submitted a plan for new living quarters for Ekofisk.

Statoil may submit a PDO for 34/10-23 Valemon in the autumn, NPD said. The licensees want a platform solution where the gas is sent to Heimdal and the liquids sent to Mongstad via Kvitebjørn. The resource base for Valemon is uncertain.

NPD also believes Det norske could submit a PDO for Frøy in the autumn. This will be a new development of a shut-down field, and the licensees are considering several types of field centres (leasing). A PDO was submitted in 2008, but the global financial crisis postponed the project.

BG may deliver a PDO for the Bream and Jordbær oil discoveries at the end of 2010. The licensees will probably go for a development with two leased field centers.

Lundin may submit a PDO for the Nemo discovery in the North Sea. The licensees plan a subsea development connected to the Pierce field on the UK continental shelf.

by: Jennifer Pallanich,
jpallanich@offshore-engineer.com

By: Alexandra Rowan,
ARowan@oilonline.com