A new gas and condensate strike has been made by Statoil in Norwegian production licence 050, which embraces the Gullfaks area of the North Sea.
Drilled from the Gullfaks B platform to a total length of 7.9 kilometres, exploration well 34/10-45B probed an area south of the Gullfaks field.
It terminated in Middle Jurassic rocks at a depth of 2,126 metres, after proving gas and condensate in Late Cretaceous sandstones.
This is described as a small discovery of limited extent by Arild Hesjedal, head of the Gullfaks reservoir development entity.
âItâs nevertheless interesting because the well was drilled from a platform and can therefore be brought on stream immediately.
âProduction experience will provide important information about the size and commercial value of the discovery.â
The find confirms that this exploration model in the Cretaceous embraces a number of interesting prospects in the area.
In addition to operator Statoil with a 61 per cent holding, the partners in PL 050 are Norsk Hydro with nine per cent and Petoro with 30 per cent.