STAVANGER, Norway -- Statoil Petroleum AS, operator of production licence 104, has concluded the drilling of wildcat well 30/9-27 S. The well was drilled around 7 km west of the Oseberg Sør-field in the northern part of the North Sea, 150 km west of Bergen.

The purpose of the well was to prove petroleum in Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks (the Tarbert Formation). The well encountered a 34-m oil column in sandstone with moderate to good reservoir quality. The oil/water contact was encountered 3,242 m below sea level.

Preliminary estimates of the size of the discovery range between one and two million standard cubic metres (Sm3) of recoverable oil equivalents. The discovery will be developed together with the Oseberg Delta 2 project, which is under development, and the licensees are assessing a production well in the structure encountered by wildcat well 30/9-27 S.

Data acquisition has been carried out.

This is the 26th exploration well drilled in production licence 104. The licence was awarded in the ninth licensing round.

The well was drilled to a measured and vertical depth of 3,989 and 3,353 m, respectively, below the sea surface and was terminated in Middle Jurassic rocks (the Ness formation). The water depth at the site is 103 m. The well has been permanently plugged and abandoned.

Well 30/9-27 S was drilled by the drilling facility Songa Delta, which will now drill development well 30/9-O-2 H in production licence 104, where Statoil Petroleum AS is the operator.