Lundin Petroleum strikes oil at North Sea well

Swedish oil and gas company Lundin Petroleum has discovered a 54m gross oil column at its Johan Sverdrup appraisal well 16/2-11, in production licence 501 in the North Sea.

A full scale production test in the Middle Jurassic reservoir resulted in flow rates in excess of 2,700 barrels of oil a day through a restricted 40/64 choke, with good reservoir properties indicating a lateral continuous reservoir.

Lundin president and CEO Ashley Heppenstall said the latest appraisal well was in line with the firm’s pre-drill forecast.

"[It] has provided us with excellent data for development planning purposes," said Heppenstall.

The company will side-track the well to probe the lateral thickness and property variations of the Jurassic reservoir, as well as establish an oil water contact. This process is expected to take 25 days.

Lundin Petroleum is using the semi-submersible drilling rig Bredford Dolphin for the project, which will then be plugged and abandoned.

Operator Lundin Norway owns a 40% stake in the well, while partners Statoil Petroleum and MaerskOil Norway hold a 40% and 20% interest respectively.