Statoil ASA, in collaboration with its project partners Eni Norge AS and Petoro, has made a new oil discovery in the Havis prospect in the Barents Sea. The Havis prospect is located in the same licence as Skrugard (PL532), but forms an independent structure.
Aker Barents drilled well 7220/7-1 to discover a proven 48m gas column and a 128m oil column. This is the second well in production licence 532 and is drilled to a vertical depth of 2,200m below sea level at a depth of 365m.
The well was awarded to Statoil and partners in 2009 in the 20th licensing round.
Statoil ASA president and CEO Helge Lund said that this is the company’s second high-impact oil discovery in the Barents Sea in nine months.
"The discovery’s volume and reservoir properties make it Skrugard’s twin," said Lund.
The Skrugard discovery, which was made in April 2011, lies approximately 7km south-west of the Havis prospect; however, there is no communication between the two discoveries.
Statoil vice-president for Skrugard development Erik Strand Tellefsen said that the Havis discovery boosts the development of Skrugard as a versatile new centre with processing and transport capacity.
"We are about to realise the Barents Sea as a core area on the Norwegian Continental Shelf," said Tellefsen.
The volumes in Havis are between 200 million and 300 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalents. 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.
Statoil owns a 50% share and is operator for production licence PL532, while licence partners Eni Norge holds a 30% stake and Petoro own 20%.
