Norwegian oil and gas company Aker BP, in partnership with other companies, has made a gas discovery in the Barents Sea while drilling the Hassel well. The preliminary estimates indicate a significant find that will be evaluated for potential development in the region.
Norwegian oil and gas company Aker BP and its partners have discovered gas in a wildcat well in the Barents Sea. The well, identified as 7324/8-4 (Hassel), was drilled using Saipem’s Scarabeo 8 semi-submersible drilling rig, around 300 kilometers from Norway’s northern coast.
This marks the second well drilled in production license 1170, which was awarded in Norway’s APA 2021. Preliminary estimates place the size of the discovery between 0.51 – 0.7 million standard cubic meters (Sm3) of oil equivalent (o.e.), equating to 3.23 – 4.42 million barrels of oil equivalent (bbls o.e.).
Aker BP operates the license with a 35% interest, alongside Equinor (35%), Petoro (20%), and Inpex Idemitsu Norge (10%). The licensees plan to evaluate the discovery in conjunction with other prospects in the area for potential development.
The well encountered a 30-meter reservoir zone with an 11-meter gas column, 8 meters of which are sandstone layers of very good quality. The gas/water contact was found 686 meters below sea level. Although the well was not formation-tested, extensive data acquisition and sampling were conducted. The well reached a vertical depth of 781 meters and has now been permanently plugged and abandoned.
