Statoil makes offshore gas find in North Sea

Norway

OSLO, July 23, 2015 – Statoil has announced a gas and condensate discovery in the Julius prospect offshore Norway. The discovery is estimated to contain between 15 million-75 million barrels of oil equivalent as part of the Ula formation, Norway’s majority-government owned oil and gas operator said.

The find was made using the jack-up rig Maersk Gallant, which drilled in 68 metres of water to reach a total depth of 5,548 metres. The well 2/3-23S was also intended to appraise the nearby King Lear discovery, made by Statoil in 2012. Data acquired from the well is likely to confirm King Lear’s initial reserve estimates of 70 million-200 million barrels of oil equivalent, Statoil said.

The drilling area sits inside licence PL146, located in the south section of Norway’s North Sea. Statoil is the operator of the licence, and holds a 77.8-precent stake along with Total, which holds the remaining 22.2-percent interest. The two companies are also partners on the adjacent licence PL333. The Maersk Gallant will now move to carry out drilling operations in Ekofisk field, located around 20 kilometres north of well 2/3-23S.

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