“Significant” oil discoveries in the North Sea: – Fantastic news

On Monday morning, Vår Energi reports that they hit an oil column about 35 meters down in the Skagerak Formation, about six kilometers outside the Balder petroleum field.

The discovery is said to be between 60 and 135 million barrels of oil equivalents, according to preliminary estimates. It may soon turn out to be possible to sell in commercial oil, report the licensees Vår Energi (90 per cent ownership) and Mime Petroleum (10 per cent ownership).

– The discovery fits well with our plans for the area and the development of the Balder field as an important production area for Vår Energi. We are revitalizing this area now, and these discoveries will increase future value creation, says Bjørn Thore Ribesen, VP for field and project development in Vår Energi in a statement.

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Focuses on exploration near infrastructure

In the oil environment, a discovery of 100 million barrels is often considered large enough to be connected to an existing development. A discovery of 250 million barrels can justify a separate development.

For Vår Energi, this is the fifth oil discovery so far this year, according to the company itself. Denis Palermo in the exploration team is naturally very pleased.

– This is fantastic news. We know that there is significant exploration potential in the Balder licenses, and we are proud and happy that we get paid for the effort, says Palermo.

Our Energy’s Executive Vice President Torgeir Rød believes the finding proves that there are still opportunities in mature areas on the Norwegian shelf.

– I am proud to represent another discovery that will create activity and value for us, our owners, the supplier industry and society in general. It is clear that the investment in exploration near existing infrastructure is yielding results, and is a strategy we will continue to follow, says Rød in a statement.

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Can go a short time to production

The time from an oil discovery being proven until it goes into production varies, but on average it takes about 12 years for the development of new fields, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. Finds that can be linked to existing production usually take much less time.

Vår Energi writes in the press release that the company has already started a project in the area to reduce the time from discovery to production as much as possible. The oil company will use the time ahead to assess whether the discovery should be connected to the infrastructure in the Balder field.

A report from Norwegian Oil and Gas shows that 2021 has been a far better exploration year than 2020 so far. The oil companies made twice as many discoveries in the first quarter of this year than last year.

So far, there have been nine discoveries on the Norwegian shelf this year, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate’s pages:

• Equinor, DNO, Petoro og Wellesley made a commercial discovery ten kilometers from the Troll field which was reported in February.
• Equinor, Our Energy and Petoro made a discovery near Johan Castberg in the Barents Sea which was reported in March.
• Equinor, Vår Energi, Idemitsu Petroleum and Neptune Energy made a discovery three kilometers away from the Fram field in March.
• Lundin, OMW and Wintershall DEA made a discovery 15 kilometers from the Edvard Grieg field and near the Solveig field in March.
• Chrysaor Norway, Okea and Petoro made a discovery 35 kilometers from Sleipner East in March.
• Neptune Energy, Petrolia Noco, Idemitsu Petroleum Norway and Concedo made a discovery ten kilometers from the Snorre field in the North Sea.
• Wintershall DEA hit on an 85 meter long gas column about 12 kilometers north of the Dvalin field in the Norwegian Sea.
• Equinor made a small oil discovery about ten kilometers from the Visund field in June. The well is located in the northern North Sea, about 120 kilometers west of Florø.
• Our Energy reports a significant oil discovery on Monday morning about six kilometers from the Balder field in the North Sea.