In an ongoing campaign to further proof prospectivity and deliverability of the Utsira High petroleum province, Lundin and partner Aker BP (40%) have now spudded well 16/4-12 in PL981 close to the Solveig field targeting the Merckx prospect.
Initially planned for drilling in Q1 of this year, Lundin hopes to prove a prospective gross volume of 152 MMboe in a tilted fault block to the southwest of Solveig.
Looking at the cross-section shown below, it is likely that the target reservoir of the well constitutes of siliciclastic sediments of either Triassic or older age. Given that the oil in Solveig is probably in the same sedimentary succession, the trapping mechanism for Merckx will probably involve an element of fault sealing or truncation trapping against the Base Cretaceous Unconformity (BCU) because it seems that Merckx is situated in a slightly more downdip setting with respect to Solveig.
On the other hand, Lower Cretaceous transgressive sands deposited on top of the BCU may also be a potential target of the well. Although the Chalk directly overlies the Triassic in the nearby Solveig 16/4-9 well to the northeast, it could be that further southwards a thin wedge of Lower Cretaceous or maybe even Upper Jurassic sands has been preserved.
If successful, the Merckx discovery will be tied back to Edvard Grieg via the Solveig development close by.
In a press release issued today, Lundin announced first oil from the Solveig field. The Phase 1 development consists of subsea five wells and has gross proved plus probable (2P) reserves of 57 MMboe. This will extend the plateau production of the Edvard Grieg facility to the end of 2023.
Based on drilling and production data, a subsequent Phase 2 development plan may be submitted by the end of 2022, further unlocking around 43 MMboe in the Solveig field.
Drilling of 16/4-12 follows on from the completion of the Lille Prinsen appraisal campaign, in which between 10 and 50 MMb of recoverable oil was proven in a combination of Jurassic and Zechstein reservoir rocks.
HENK KOMBRINK
