UK-based Tullow Oil has announced the first-ever oil discovery in the Hoop-Maud Basin in the Barents Sea, offshore Norway in a turn of good news for the company after it was forced to abandon an offshore well in Mozambique earlier this week.
In its Wisting Central exploration well, Tullow said it discovered 50-60 meters of net light oil pay. Operator OMV estimates the well contains up to 164 million barrels of oil and up to 40 billion cubic feet of gas. The well was drilled to a total depth of 905 meters in a water depth of 373 meters.
"This is a major frontier light oil discovery for Norway, Tullow Oil and our co-venturers,” Tullow’s exploration director Angus McCoss told reporters.
“The Wisting Central wildcat well has opened the Hoop-Maud Basin by proving a new shallow play in the region. This discovery also demonstrates the effectiveness of leading edge exploration techniques, pioneered by Tullow's Norwegian exploration team, that combine shallow seismic and electromagnetic survey data in the search for oil."
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"We look forward to pursuing the exciting exploration and appraisal follow up arising from this breakthrough oil discovery."
Tullow has a 20% interest in the Wisting Central discovery, located in license PL537. The operator is OMV, with a 25% interest, with other stakes owned by Idemitsu (20%), Norway’s own Statoil (15%) and Petoro (20%).
Tullow’s shares are up on the news of the Arctic find in Norway. At the close of trading in London on 5 September, Tullow shares were at £10.33, and the company’s value was at £9.4bn (€11.2bn). Today, shares have climbed further to £10.53.
The next step is to gather more data in this potential shallow play and to start the semi-submersible rig on deeper drilling.
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By. Charles Kennedy of Oilprice.com
