Statoil reports substantial new oil discovery in the Barents Sea
09 January 2012
Statoil ASA, together with its partners Eni Norge AS and Petoro AS, made a substantial oil discovery in the Havis prospect in the same licence as Skrugard (PL532) in the Barents Sea. This is the second high-impact discovery (more than 250 million barrels oil equivalent in total or more than 100 million barrels net for Statoil) in the North in nine months.
Well 7220/7-1, drilled by the drilling rig Aker Barents, has proved a 48-meter gas column and a 128-meter oil column. Statoil estimates the volumes in Havis to be between 200 and 300 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalents (o.e.). The provisional, updated total volume estimate for the Skrugard and Havis discoveries in PL532 is in the region of 400-600 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalents.
Havis is our second high impact oil discovery in the Barents Sea in nine months. The discovery’s volume and reservoir properties make it Skrugard’s twin. Skrugard and Havis open up a new petroleum province in the North.
—Helge Lund, President and CEO of Statoil ASA
Havis lies approximately 7 kilometers southwest of the Skrugard discovery, made in April of last year. Havis lies within the same production licence, but forms an independent structure. There is no communication between the two discoveries.
Statoil has been exploring in the Barents Sea for more than 30 years and the company has been involved in 88 of a total 92 exploration wells drilled in the area. This has resulted in continuous competence building and a deep understanding of the hydrocarbon systems in the Barents Sea.
Statoil has previously communicated that the Skrugard discovery will provide the basis for an independent development, with the Havis volumes the development project becomes even more robust. Going forward, the partnership will drill an appraisal well in the Skrugard discovery and assess further upside potential in the licence.
Well 7220/7-1 is the second well in production licence 532, which was awarded in 2009 in connection with the 20th licensing round. The well is drilled to a vertical depth of 2200 meters (7,218 ft) below sea level at a sea depth of 365 meters (1,198 ft).
Statoil is operator for production licence PL532 with an ownership share of 50%. The licence partners are Eni Norge AS (30%) and Petoro AS (20%).
Peak Oil production may not be around for another 10++ years?
Good news for Norway, EU and USA.
Posted by: HarveyD | 09 January 2012 at 08:59 AM
The world rate of consumption is about 100 million barrels of oil per day. In the US we use 20 million barrels of oil per day. At a price of $100 per barrel and assuming 10% return, this is a lot of money for Statoil ((200-400 million X 100)X0.10, or about $2-3B). But seriously, it is a 3 day supply.
Posted by: Brotherkenny4 | 09 January 2012 at 09:55 AM