Minor quantities of gas were proven in Palaeocene rocks by Statoil’s recently-completed wells on the Verdandi prospect in Norwegian North Sea block 16/1.
The 16/1-6S and 16/1-6A spuddings were intended to investigate possible oil deposits. Small amounts of gas were found in 16/1-6S, while the other failed to yield hydrocarbons.
Drilled 70 kilometres north-east of the Sleipner area, both wells have now been permanently plugged and abandoned.
“We made a small gas discovery which isn’t commercial today,” says Frode Fasteland, exploration manager for the North Sea in Exploration & Production Norway.
Started on 22 May, drilling was carried out from Borgland Dolphin to a depth of 1,878 metres below sea level for 16/1-6S and 1,993 for 16/1-6A. Both wells terminated in Cretaceous rocks.
Statoil carried out the work on behalf of production licence 167, which was awarded as part of the 13th offshore licensing round in 1991.
The group has an 80 per cent interest in the licence, with Det Norske Oljeselskap holding the remaining 20 per cent.