Hydrocarbons were confirmed in sandstone of middle and late Triassic age. The well was not formation tested, but comprehensive data gathering and sampling have been carried out.
The late Triassic find is made in rocks of good quality and is in the size of 2–14 billion standard cubic metres of recoverable gas.
"It is of course promising that we once more have proven gas in the Barents Sea," says Geir Richardsen, head of exploration activities in the far north. "The middle Triassic find is made in rocks of poor quality however and we need time to make an evaluation and analyses to understand the volume and size of the find."
The well was drilled in block 7222/11 in production licence 228. The purpose of the well was to confirm hydrocarbons in sandstone of middle and late Triassic age.
The drilling in Caurus was carried out by the Polar Pioneer drilling rig at a water depth of 356 metres. Polar Pioneer will now start drilling appraisal well 7125/4-2 in the StatoilHydro operated production licence 393.
Exploration well7222/11-1 S was drilled to a total depth of 2825 metres below sea level and was concluded in rocks of early Triassic age. The well is now being temporarily plugged and abandoned.Production licence 228 was awarded in the Barents Sea project in 1997, when Saga Petroleum ASA was operator. Well 7222/11-1 (Caurus) is the second exploration well in the licence.
The first exploration well, 7222/6-1, was drilled in January-February 2008 and confirmed hydrocarbons in the Obesum structure in the far northern part of the licence. Another exploration well in the licence has been scheduled, which will be a delineation of the Obesum discovery scheduled for start-up in December 2008.
The licensees in production licence 228 are:
StatoilHydro Petroleum AS (operator)
StatoilHydro ASA