DNO Proves 'Dry Belt' in North Sea to be Not So Dry with New Oil Discovery
December 2, 2024
Norwegian oil and gas operator DNO has made an oil discovery in the Othello prospect in the southern North Sea, offshore Norway, refuting what the industry deemed as a dry belt area.
The discovery was made in wildcat well 2/6-7 S in production license 108, where DNO is the operator with 50% working interest, along with partners Aker BP and Petoro holding 20% each, and Source Energy with 10% stake.
Light oil was discovered in Palaeocene sandstones of good reservoir quality with preliminary estimates of gross recoverable resources in the range of 27-57 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) on a P90-P10 basis, with a mean of 41 MMboe, according to DNO.
The well was drilled using the Noble Invincible jack-up rig, with an appraisal well 2/6-7 A also drilled at the prospect.
As this is the first time moveable oil has been encountered in the Borr unit of the Våle Formation in the Norwegian sector, the discovery is considered a play opener.
The well had two exploration targets, a deeper prospect (Falstaff) where no reservoir was encountered and a shallower prospect (Othello) where a 16-meter net oil bearing reservoir was encountered. This discovery was subsequently confirmed in a sidetrack.
The Othello discovery marks the second new play DNO, as operator, has proven recently in Norway, following last year's Norma discovery (30% and operator).
Remarkably, Othello has discovered oil east in the basin where migration risk was commonly thought to be too high. In recent years, the industry has shown little exploration interest in this area, which has been disparagingly called ‘the dry belt’.
Together with its partners, DNO is already considering tying back the discovery to existing infrastructure, with the ConocoPhillips Ekofisk hub some 40 kilometers to the west and the Valhall hub operated by Aker BP some 55 kilometers to the southwest.
"DNO has become a North Sea playmaker. We have proven persistent, purposeful and pertinacious and these qualities pay in exploration. In addition to our ongoing exploration campaign, we will focus on other identified, and now derisked by Othello, prospects in the area," said Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar- Rahmani.
Meanwhile, the licensees of nearby PL1085, comprising DNO (25%), Aker BP (55% and operator) and Petoro (20%), are considering developing the 2022 Overly discovery in the permit as a tieback to Aker BP's Valhall hub based on recently completed studies leading to increased estimates of recoverable resources. Overly lies 10 kilometers north of Valhall.
The Noble Invincible jack-up will now move to drill a production well on the nearby Tambar East oilfield in which DNO holds a 37.8% interest. Also nearby, the 2026 Sunndal exploration well is planned to be drilled in PL1171 by DNO (50%) and Aker BP (50% and operator).
