StatoilHydro Boosts Dagny Discovery's Size

The size of the Dagny discovery in the North Sea is being upgraded to contain between 130 and 170 million barrels of oil equivalent after drilling of a sidetrack well has been completed.

The purpose of the sidetrack drilling was to delineate the Dagny discovery in order to determine the oil/water contact.

Including the Ermintrude find the total recoverable volume is estimated at 180-240 million barrels of oil equivalent.

"This is a very exciting discovery which confirms that there is still a chance of finding larger volumes of oil in established areas such as Sleipner," said Tim Dodson, Senior Vice President for StatoilHydro's exploration activities on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). "These are positive contributions to reaching our goal of maximizing the potential on the NCS."

The appraisal wells on the Dagny structure confirm that Dagny and Ermintrude, which was confirmed in 2007, have identical pressures and are located in the same structure. A joint development of Ermintrude and Dagny phased in to the Sleipner field is being evaluated.

Gas was confirmed in the Dagny discovery as early as in 1978. A creative exploration organisation presented the idea that there might be an oil column below the gas.

"It is encouraging to see that the organization's new ideas in mature areas can lead to such good results," added Tim Dodson.

Facts about Dagny

• The Dagny discovery is located around 10 kilometers northwest of the Sleipner West field. A considerable oil column has been confirmed below the gas in the Dagny structure in the North Sea.
• The sidetrack drilling was performed at a water depth of 119 meters by the Transocean Winner drilling rig and is the fourth exploration well in production license 048. The license was awarded in the third licensing round in 1977.
• The purpose of the sidetrack drilling was to determine the oil/water contact and to collect water and pressure samples from the water zone. The drilling costs were split between production licenses PL048 and PL029.
• StatoilHydro is the Operator of PL048 with an interest of 78.2%. The partner, Total, has an interest of 21.8%. ExxonMobil is the Operator of PL029 (100%).