The partners in the Snøhvit organisation have decided to drill an appraisal well to map the resources in the Barents Sea field's structure more closely.
An appraisal well at Snøhvit must be drilled by the summer of 2007 if potential oil production is to begin before the field's gas pressure becomes too low. (Photo: Sverre Kojedal)
The appraisal well will provide further data on Snøhvit's recoverable oil reserves and better map gas reserves in the western part of the field's structure.
"We want to ensure proper management of the resources in the Snøhvit area," says Geir Pettersen, Statoil's senior vice president for the Tromsø Patch business cluster.
"A closer mapping of the field's reserves can give us a basis for continuing our studies towards a possible realisation of the oil project."
The partners will assess whether to continue with the project when the results from the appraisal well are ready.
The benefits associated with a potential coordination with the Goliat oil find development, where Eni is operator, are among the options under consideration. A coordination with Goliat was studied earlier with a negative result.
Drilling of the appraisal well is dependent on available rig capacity in the area.
Statoil is operator for development and operation of Snøhvit with a 33.53% share. The other partners are Petoro (30.00%), Total E&P (18.40%), Gaz de France (12.00%), Amerada Hess Norge (3.26%) and RWE Dea Norge (2.81%).