The series of exploration successes for RWE Dea in Norway continues. Having already made a major gas discovery in the Zidane licence area in mid-September, the semi-submersible drilling rig Bredford Dolphin just made another discovery in the Titan prospect (PL 420) – with a promising oil discovery.
RWE Dea Norge AS, operator of production licence 420, is in the process of completing the drilling of wildcat well 35/9-6 S. The well was drilled approximately 16 km west of the Gjøa field in the North Sea. Petroleum was proven (mainly oil) in a 435 m column in the Heather Formation, the Brent Group, the Drake Formation and the Cook Formation. The reservoir levels in the well are in different pressure regimes, and no hydrocarbon/water contact was encountered.
Preliminary estimates of the size of the discovery indicate between 2 - 10 million m3 of recoverable oil equivalents. Small scale formation tests (mini-DST) were carried out, showing a variation in reservoir quality. The well is the first exploration well in production licence 420, which was awarded on 16 February 2007 (APA 2006). The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 3664 m and was terminated in Upper Triassic rocks. The water depth at the site is 370 m. The well will be permanently plugged and abandoned.