As announced by the NPD this morning, Lundin and partners Spirit (20%; soon to be Sval Energy) and Petoro (20%) have drilled a dry well on the Frøya High in the Norwegian Sea, targeting the Melstein prospect.
Because of the similarities with the Johan Sverdrup field – an Upper Jurassic sandstone on top of a basement high – the well could be seen as an attempt to prove the Johan Sverdrup play further north.
However, even though a 152 m interval of sandstone was found, much thicker than in Johan Sverdrup, no traces of hydrocarbons were found. 6306/9-1 also drilled 76 m of tight basement rocks.
The well did not take a long time to drill, as the TD depth was at 1025 m. Compared to the planned TD depth of 1170 m, it may be concluded that the reservoir came in shallower than foreseen.
A reason why the Melstein prospect differs from Johan Sverdrup area is the tilt of the Frøya High. As the seismic section below shows, there is quite a tilt towards the west, which may have complicated the formation of a valid trap.
The depth of the targeted reservoir in Melstein is also significantly shallower than at Johan Sverdrup, which would have increased the risk of biodegradation even when hydrocarbons were found.
With the completion of well 6306/9-1 and the other recent dry hole drilled by PGNiG a little further north on the Frøya High (6306/3-1S), it may not be a surprise to see a break in activity in the area for a while.
HENK KOMBRINK
