Lundin drills a dry well at Barents Sea prospect

By Thomas Nilsen, The Independent Barents Observer October 2, 2017
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The semi-submersible drilling rig "Leiv Eiriksson," picture taken in July 2009. (Ulrich Latzenhofer / CC via Wikimedia Commons)
The semi-submersible drilling rig Leiv Eiriksson, picture taken in July 2009. (Ulrich Latzenhofer / CC via Wikimedia Commons)

The 2017 drilling season in Norway’s Arctic waters has so far been a huge disappointment for oil companies, with one dry well following the other.

It started in May when Lundin Petroleum announced reduced resource estimates for the Gotha discovery after drilling of an appraisal well showed poor reservoir quality. Then Statoil followed with no oil discoveries at the Blåmann well in July, no oil at the Gemini North well in August, no oil at the Korpfjell prospect in September.

And now, Lundin announces yet another dry well, at Børselv.

“The well encountered a 380-meter thick sequence of carbonates with medium to poor reservoir quality. Oil shows were found, but the reservoir was water bearing,” Lundin Norway reports in a note.

Lundin now moves the rig Leiv Eiriksson to the Hufsa prospect, located south of the Børselv prospect northwest of Hammerfest in Finnmark region.