Hydro has found oil and gas in exploration well 30/9-J-13H in the vicinity of the Oseberg South field. The plan is to convert the well to a production well and link it to the Oseberg South Platform.
The discovery was made by the Bideford Dolphin drilling rig on the J-Central prospect. The new discovery is located close to the J-Structure where oil and gas production started up in June.
In planning the development of the J-structure, Hydro has allowed for a J-Central find and the new discovery to be put into production within a short period of time.
The well was drilled at 103 meters below sea level down to a total depth of 2,550 meters.
“This find will help boost oil production from J-Structure into Oseberg Sør. Exploration, development and production from smaller deposits around existing production installations are important elements of Hydro’s drive to create maximum value in the Oseberg area,” says senior vice president Jan Arve Haugan, head of the Oseberg-Grane business area in Hydro Oil & Energy.
The oil production from Oseberg South amounts to approximately 82.000 barrels per day. Included is the production from the J-Structure, which currently amounts to roughly 11,000 barrels per day.
In its efforts to develop Oseberg’s oil and gas resources, Hydro has explored actively for additional resources with the intention of developing oil and gas deposits by linking them up to existing platforms. Oil and gas deposits were proven earlier this year in the B-South formation on Oseberg Sør. The satellite field Oseberg Vestflanken, which is being developed by means of subsea technology connected to the Oseberg Field Center, will come on stream in 2006. A development plan for the Oseberg Delta discovery was submitted to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy in July of this year.
It is planned to drill further exploration wells in the area, both from floating exploration rigs and as extensions to the fixed platform production wells in the area.
License holders in the Oseberg Area Unit
- Norsk Hydro (operator): 34%
- Petoro: 33,6%
- Statoil: 15,3%
- Total: 10%
- ExxonMobil: 4,7%
- ConocoPhillips: 2,4%