Lundin Spins Drill Bit And Finds Only Dust

Lundin Energy is concluding the process of drilling a wildcat well southeast of the Johan Sverdrup field in the North Sea after no hydrocarbons were found.

The well, designated 17/8-1, is located in production license 976 where Lundin is the operator. Lundin was granted a drilling permit for this well in August 2021.

The well was drilled about 70 kilometers southeast of the Johan Sverdrup field in the North Sea and 87 miles southwest of Stavanger.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) said that the well’s primary exploration target was to prove petroleum in sandstone in the Sandnes Formation from the Middle Jurassic. The secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in carbonate rocks in the Zechstein Group and possible sandstone in the Rotliegend Group, both from the Permian.

The well encountered 60 feet of the Sandnes and Bryne Formation from the Middle Jurassic, 33 feet of which were sandstone with good reservoir quality.

In the secondary exploration target, the well encountered about 230 feet of tight carbonate rocks in the Zechstein Group. The Rotliegend Group is most likely not present in the well, but it did encounter about 195 feet of tight clastic rocks from the Paleozoic Era.

The well also encountered about 655 feet of the Skagerrak and Smith Bank Formation (Triassic), a total of about 390 feet of which were sandstone with poor to moderate reservoir quality.

The NPD added that the well was dry, with no traces of petroleum. Data acquisition was carried out. This is the first exploration well in production license 976, which was awarded in APA 2018.

The well 17/8-1 was drilled to a vertical depth of 9,484 feet below sea level and was terminated in rocks from the Paleozoic Era. The water depth is 390 feet. The well, drilled by the Deepsea Stavanger drilling rig, will be permanently plugged and abandoned.

To contact the author, email bojan.lepic@rigzone.com