The appraisal well of the 6604/5-1 (Balderbrå) discovery turned out dry. According to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate’s (NPD) press release, the appraisal well encountered the Springar Formation in three intervals totalling 210 metres, with a total of about 140 metres of sandstone with poor reservoir quality. Only traces of gas were encountered, and pressure communication with the discovery well has not been confirmed.
The resources in the Balderbrå discovery are narrowed down to less than half of the discovery well estimate. The new resource estimates for the discovery have been reduced to between 19 and 50 MMboe of recoverable gas and between 1.3 and 6.3 MMboe of recoverable condensate.
Earlier this year, Wintershall DEA’s neighbor wildcat proved a duster with the 6604/6-1 (Gullstjerne). Gullstjerne was regarded as a high-chance-of-success well. The commercial value of Balderbrå and possible tie-in to the gas field Aasta Hansteen is still uncertain.
The Balderbrå discovery of 2018 was presented at an NPF conference in 2019. The reservoir of Balderbrå consists of late Campanian to Maastrichtian deep marine sandstone turbidites, in the Late Cretaceous Springar Formation.
These sandstones are draped over rifted fault blocks and covered by a Paleogene seal. The source rocks are Cretaceous shales. The original prospect was supported by a seismic amplitude brightening on the top of the structure.
Text: TERJE SOLBAKK
