Drilling by Statoil as operator of well 6104/21-1 in licence 006 off the Faroe Islands has been completed. No commercially viable oil or gas volumes were proven.
The well was drilled by the Stena Don rig to a total depth of 4,201 metres in roughly 480 metres of water. Only traces of gas were found in the structure.
"We are obviously disappointed that the drilling did not reveal commercial volumes of hydrocarbons, " says Rúni M Hansen, vice president for Statoil Færoyene.
"A positive aspect is that the well has given us useful knowledge about drilling in volcanic sub-basalt rock. That will be helpful in future exploration off the Faroes.
Originally, the plan was to drill down to 3,780 metres but Statoil applied for permission to drill deeper. Due to technical problems, the well had to be abandoned early.
The well has now been permanently plugged and abandoned. Cores from the well will be thoroughly examined to gather information for future exploration.
According to Bjarni Djurholm, trade and industry minister for the Faroes, the well is an important source of knowledge about the geology below the sub-basalt rocks on the Faroese continental shelf.
"Preparations for the third Faroese licensing round are under way," says Mr Djurholm.
"I expect it to be announced in the autumn of 2007 as scheduled."
The partners in licence 006 are Statoil with 27.15%, Dong (21.91%), Anadarko (13%), Enterprise Oil (Shell) (12.47%), Amerada Hess (11.09%), BG group (10.31%), Faroe Petroleum (4.04%) and Atlantic Petroleum (0.03%).