Lundin Norway AS, operator of production licence 609, is in the process of concluding the drilling of wildcat well 7220/11-1, which proved both oil and gas.

The well was drilled about 20 kilometres northeast of oil and gas discovery 7120/1-3 and about 190 kilometres northwest of Hammerfest.

The well’s primary exploration target was to prove petroleum in sandstone rocks from the Middle Triassic period (Kobbe formation in the Ingøydjupet group) and in chalk rocks from the Permian period (Ørn formation in the Gipsdalen group). The secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in reservoir rocks from the Carboniferous period (Falk formation in the Gipsdalen group).

The well encountered a 45-metre total oil column with an overlying 10-metre gas column in carbonate rocks in the Gipsdalen group, with good reservoir properties.

Preliminary estimates of the size of the discovery are between 14 and 50 million standard cubic metres (Sm3) of recoverable oil, and between 5 and 17 billion standard cubic metres of recoverable gas. Further delineation of the discovery is planned for 2015.

Extensive data collection and sampling have been performed. Two successful formation tests have been carried out in the oil zone, both of which indicated good flow properties. The maximum production rate was 518 Sm3 of oil and 48 700 Sm3 of associated gas per flow day through a 36/64-inch nozzle. The gas/oil ratio is 94 Sm3/Sm3.

This well is the first exploration well in production licence 609, which was awarded in the 21st licencing round in 2011.

The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 2221 metres below the sea surface, and was terminated in the Ugle formation from the Late Carboniferous period. The water depth is 388 metres. The well will now be permanently plugged and abandoned.

Well 7220/11-1 was drilled by the Island Innovator drilling facility, which will now move to production licence 625 in the North Sea to drill wildcat well 25/10-12 S, where Lundin Norway AS is the operator.