Total makes a new oil discovery in the North Sea

Tuesday, Dec 04, 2012

Total announces that its affiliate Total E&P Norge has made an oil discovery in the Garantiana prospect located on Production License 554 (PL554) in the Norwegian North Sea, 185 kilometers northwest of Bergen and 30 kilometers northeast of the Visund Field, at water depths of 384 meters. Total E&P Norge is operator of the license with a 40% interest, other partners are Det norske oljeselskap ASA 20%, Bridge Energy Norge AS 20% and Svenska Petroleum Exploration 20%.

Preliminary estimates place the size of the discovery between 25 and 75 million barrels of recoverable oil.

The wildcat well 34/6-2 S encountered oil in the Lower Jurassic Cook Formation with good reservoir quality. A successful production test was carried out on the well, with a flow rate of 4,300 barrels of oil per day through a 28/64" choke. A sidetrack (well 34/6-2 A) was then drilled to appraise the discovery and allowed to identify an oil-water contact in the formation.

The well on the Garantiana prospect is the first exploration well in License 554. Other prospects are located in the immediate vicinity of the discovery and are under evaluation. A second exploration well is planned to be drilled in the area.

Total has increased its exploration activity in Norway in recent years, drilling more wells on existing acreage, actively participating in exploration rounds, and, in the case of PL554, farming in as operator.

Commenting on the discovery, Patrice de Viviès, Total’s Senior Vice President Exploration & Production for Northern Europe said:

“This oil discovery opens new perspectives in the area. The well, the test and the sidetrack on Garantiana have given information which will allow us to optimize the future exploration of the near-by structures and to investigate the development solutions”.

Source: Total

To access over 3,000 of the latest oil projects from across the world visit Projects OGP for free trial today