DNO strikes oil in new play offshore Norway
In license PL1086, DNO ASA discovered light oil in Palaeocene sandstones of good reservoir quality with preliminary estimates of gross recoverable resources in the range of 27-57 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) on a P90-P10 basis, with a mean of 41 MMboe.
This is the first time moveable oil has been encountered in the Borr unit of the Våle Formation in the Norwegian sector. The well had two exploration targets, a deeper prospect (Falstaff) where no reservoir was encountered and a shallower prospect (Othello) where a 16-m net oil bearing reservoir was encountered. This discovery was subsequently confirmed in a sidetrack.
The Othello discovery marks the second new play DNO, as operator, has proven recently in Norway, following last year’s Norma discovery. Remarkably, Othello has discovered oil east in the basin where migration risk was commonly thought to be too high. In recent years, the industry has shown little exploration interest in this area, which has been disparagingly called “the dry belt”.
Together with its partners, DNO is considering tying back the discovery to existing infrastructure, with the ConocoPhillips Ekofisk hub located 40 km to the west and the Valhall hub operated by Aker BP some 55 km to the southwest.
The PL1086 well and the sidetrack were drilled by the Noble Invincible jackup, which will now move to drill a production well on the nearby Tambar East oilfield in which DNO holds a 37.8% interest.
