First Arctic well in 4 years draws no oil for Norway’s Aker BP
Aker BP made only a minor discovery of natural gas at the Svanefjell prospect in the Barents Sea.
It was Aker BP’s first well in the region in four years, and it was made only 25 km from the place where the company in 2014 made a small discovery of oil.
This time, the company found only gas, and only small volumes. According to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, the drilling of the wildcat well revealed a gas column of about 20 metres.
Preliminary estimate is that the size of the discovery is between 2-3.5 billion standard cubic metres of recoverable gas, the Directorate informs.
Non-commercial discovery
Preliminary results from gas samples indicate that the gas may be in the gas-hydrate phase.
Aker BP Senior Vice President for Exploration Gro Gunleiksrud Haatvedt confirms that the discovery is considered to be non-commercial.
The Svanefjell well is located about 230 km north of Hammerfest, the town on the Barents Sea coast. It was drilled to a vertical depth of 700 metres below the sea surface by semisubmersible rig “Deepsea Stavanger”.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Baffinland mine ships record amount of iron ore in 2017, Radio Canada International
China: China wants in on Russian wind park project, The Independent Barents Observer
Finland: Finnish chemistry professor develops “revolutionary” biofuel, YLE News
India: Russian Arctic natural gas comes to India, The Independent Barents Observer
Norway: Bad prospects may slow down Statoil in Norway’s Barents, The Independent Barents Observer
Russia: France’s Total buys stake in major gas project in Russian Arctic, The Independent Barents Observer
Sweden: Another dry well in the Barents Sea for oil company Lundin, The Independent Barents Observer
United States: Former UN climate chief speaks out against Arctic drilling, Deutsche Welle’s Iceblogger
