Vår Energi, Equinor hit gas-condensate at Lakris in Norwegian Sea

Vår Energi and Equinor have made a gas and condensate discovery estimated at 200,000–900,000 standard cubic metres of oil equivalent, or 1.3–5.5 million barrels of oil equivalent, at the Lakris prospect in the Norwegian Sea.

The find sits in the Gimsan Basin on the Halten Terrace (a structural high on the mid-Norwegian Continental Shelf), roughly 240km north-west of Trondheim and near the Mikkel and Heidrun fields.

What did the well actually find?

Wildcat well 6407/5-3 S, drilled around 170km north-west of Kristiansund, reached a vertical depth of 4,225m below sea level. Water depth at the location measured 218m. The COSL Prospector rig carried out the drilling.

The programme targeted Cretaceous rocks of the Nise Formation and Lower Jurassic rocks of the Tilje Formation. Results split sharply between the two objectives:

• Gas and condensate encountered in the upper Tilje Formation, within 54m of heterolithic reservoir rock (mixed sand and mud layers), with quality described as moderate to poor; the gas-water contact was not reached.
• Hydrocarbon shows recorded in the lower Tilje Formation, with no detail given on their extent.
• No sandstone reservoir found in the Nise Formation, though elevated gas readings were recorded in that interval.
• Garn, Ile and Tofte formation intervals contained water, with reservoir quality moderate to poor.

No formation test was conducted. The companies obtained data and samples from the well, which is due to be permanently plugged and abandoned.

The reservoir quality description and absent gas-water contact leave the recoverable range wide. In plain words: this is a modest discovery whose commercial value remains unproven pending appraisal.

How does the licence context shape the find?

Vår Energi operates production licence 1002, with Equinor as partner. The licence was awarded through APA 2018 (Awards in Predefined Areas, Norway's annual mature-area licensing round) on 1 March 2019. Lakris was the licence's first exploration well.

The preliminary resource estimate of 1.3–5.5 million boe places the discovery at the small end of Halten Terrace finds, well below the thresholds that typically support standalone development, though tieback options to nearby infrastructure could change that calculus once the companies appraise the extent of the lower Tilje shows.

Vår Energi continues to build its Norwegian Sea position. In April this year, the company and Equinor submitted a revised plan for development and operation of the Goliat Gas Export project to the Norwegian Ministry of Energy.

The watch item is whether the partners move to appraise the Lakris discovery, and whether the lower Tilje hydrocarbon shows prove thick enough to justify a tieback to existing Halten Terrace infrastructure.