Equinor and Neptune Hit Oil Pay in North Sea

Equinor ASA on Monday reported its first discovery for 2020.

The oil discovery in the Sigrun East prospect in the North Sea boasts estimated recoverable resources ranging from 7 to 17 million barrels of oil equivalent, added Equinor. The company drilled exploration wells 15/3-12S and 15/3-12AT2 in production license PL025/187 on the Norwegian Continental Shelf with Neptune Energy Norge AS using Seadrill’s West Phoenix semi-submersible rig.

“Sigrun East is a win-win,” Nick Ashton, Equinor’s senior vice president for exploration in Norway and the U.K., commented in a written statement. “Exploring near existing infrastructure we prove resources that can be profitably realized while producing with low CO2 emissions.”

Equinor and Neptune own 75-percent and 25-percent interests, respectively, in the Sigrun East wells.

According to Equinor, the Sigrun East wells are follow-up wells to the Sigrun appraisal well (15/3-11) drilled in 2018 and were drilled 11 kilometers southeast of the Gudrun field. The company stated the main well proved oil in three zones in moderate-quality sandstone in the Hugin formation. West Phoenix drilled the two most recent PL025/187 wells to total vertical depths of 3,810 meters and 4,038 meters in 109 meters of water, Equinor stated. The firm added the semisub will next mobilize to PL889 in the Norwegian Sea to drill a new exploration well.

In a separate written statement, Neptune stated the Sigrun East wells – along with the 2018 appraisal well – will be studied for a potential subsea tie-in development to the Gudron platform.

“We are very pleased to be part of the Sigrun East discovery together with operator Equinor,” commented Steinar Meland, Neptune’s director of exploration and development in Norway. “This latest discovery will add valuable resources to the Sigrun development, which is located in one of our core areas on the NCS. The Sigrun East wells demonstrate how important exploration is to our company’s growth strategy.”

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