Major New Oil Discovery In The Barents Sea

Statoil ASA (OSE:STL, NYSE:STO) has together with its partners Eni Norge AS and Petoro AS made a substantial oil discovery in the Havis prospect in the same licence as Skrugard (PL532) in the Barents Sea.

Havis core sample: Geologist Anniken Berge (left) and drilling supervisor Svein Ræder (Photo: Arild Oanes)

This is the second high-impact discovery in the North in nine months.

Well 7220/7-1, drilled by the drilling rig Aker Barents, has proved a 48 metre gas column and a 128 metre oil column.

The Aker Barents drilling rig

Statoil estimates the volumes in Havis to be between 200 and 300 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalents (o.e.). The provisional, updated total volume estimate for the Skrugard and Havis discoveries in PL532 is in the region of 400-600 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalents.

“Havis is our second high impact oil discovery in the Barents Sea in nine months. The discovery’s volume and reservoir properties make it Skrugard’s twin. Skrugard and Havis open up a new petroleum province in the North,” says Helge Lund, President and CEO of Statoil ASA.

Havis lies approximately 7 kilometres southwest of the Skrugard discovery, made in April of last year. Havis lies within the same production licence, but forms an independent structure. There is no communication between the two discoveries.

The discovery provides further confirmation of Statoil’s faith in the exploration potential of the Norwegian continental shelf, and makes an important contribution to the revitalisation of the NCS in line with what was communicated at Capital Markets Day in June of last year.

Moreover, Havis and Skrugard prove that persistence and long-term thinking bear fruits. Statoil has been exploring in the Barents Sea for more than 30 years and the company has been involved in 88 of a total 92 exploration wells drilled in the area. This has resulted in continuous competence building and a deep understanding of the hydrocarbon systems in the Barents Sea.

Statoil has previously communicated that the Skrugard discovery will provide the basis for an independent development, with the Havis volumes the development project becomes even more robust. Going forward, the partnership will drill an appraisal well in the Skrugard discovery and assess further upside potential in the licence.