Aker BP’s first Norwegian Arctic well in 4 years yields no oil

Instead, it found non-commercial quantities of natural gas.

By Atle Staalesen, The Independent Barents Observer May 31, 2018
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Aker BP’s first Arctic Norway well in 4 years found only small quantities of natural gas. (Aker BP)

It was Aker BP’s first well in the region in four years, and it was made only 25 kilometers (about 16 miles) from the place where the company made a small discovery of oil in 2014.

This time, the company found only gas, and only small volumes. According to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, the drilling of the wildcat well revealed a gas column of about 20 meters.

Preliminary estimate is that the size of the discovery is between 2-3.5 billion standard cubic meters of recoverable gas, according to the directorate. Preliminary results from gas samples indicate that it may be in gas-hydrate phase.

Aker BP Senior Vice President for Exploration Gro Gunleiksrud Haatvedt confirms that the discovery is considered to be non-commercial.

The Svanefjell well is located about 230 kilometer north of Hammerfest, the town on the Barents Sea coast. It was drilled to a vertical depth of 700 meters below the sea surface by semisubmersible rig “Deepsea Stavanger.”

The Svanefjell prospect. (Norwegian Petroleum Directorate)