Harbour Energy Norge AS and its partners have confirmed a gas discovery in well 15/9-25 in the North Sea, about 130.5 miles (210 kilometers) west of Stavanger.
The well, which was drilled using the Noble Integrator rig, is the first one in production license 1138, which was awarded in Awards in Pre-defined Areas (APA) in 2021, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate said in a news release Wednesday.
The overall gas volume was calculated between 35.3 million and 105.9 million cubic feet (1 million and 3 million standard cubic meters) of recoverable oil equivalent, the regulator noted. The gas discovery had previously been proven in two other exploration wells: 16/7-2 and 16/7-10, drilled in 1982 and 2011, respectively.
License owners Harbour Energy Norge AS, Sval Energi AS, and Aker BP ASA will consider whether there is a technical and financial basis for tying the discovery into existing infrastructure in the area, according to the release. Harbour owns a 40 percent stake in the asset, while Sval and Aker own 30 percent each.
The primary exploration target for the well was to prove petroleum in Middle Jurassic and Triassic reservoir rocks in the Hugin and Skagerrak formations. The secondary exploration target was to delineate gas proven in wells 16/7-2 and 16/7-10 in reservoir rocks in the Ty Formation from the Palaeocene, the regulator said.
In the primary exploration target, well 15/9-25 “encountered a 22-meter [72.2-foot] thick layer of aquiferous sand with very good reservoir quality in the Hugin Formation in the Vestland Group”, the regulator said. In the Ty Formation, the well encountered a 32.8-foot (10-meter) gas column in a thick sandstone reservoir with “very good reservoir quality”. The gas/water contact was encountered 7644 feet (2,330 meters) below sea level, which confirms the contact encountered in nearby wells, the release said. Well 15/9-25 was drilled to a measured depth of 9,422.6 feet (2872 meters) below sea level, and was terminated in the Smith Bank Formation in the Upper Triassic.
2023 Review and 2024 Outlook
Harbour’s production in 2023 averaged 186,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), split approximately 50-50 between liquids and gas, compared to 208,000 boepd in the previous year.
Harbour in December 2023 agreed to acquire substantially all of Wintershall Dea’s upstream assets for $11.2 billion. The acquisition is subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals and is anticipated to conclude in the fourth quarter of 2024.
“Harbour materially advanced its strategy during 2023”, Harbour CEO Linda Cook said in a recent statement. “We improved our safety performance, generated material free cash flow, and progressed our international growth opportunities and CCS [carbon capture and storage] projects, while maintaining our capital discipline. This enabled continued shareholder returns over and above our base dividend while retaining the flexibility that allowed us to announce a transformational acquisition in December”.
“We remain focused on the successful completion of the Wintershall Dea acquisition and the ongoing safe and efficient management of our existing portfolio”, Cook added. “We are excited about our future as we look to continue to build a geographically diverse, large scale, independent oil and gas company focused on safe and responsible operations, value creation and shareholder returns”.
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