The winners of the Exploration Innovation Prize were Aker BP, Equinor, and PGNiG for the Øst Frigg Beta/Epsilon discovery. They were awarded at the NCS Exploration – Recent Discoveries conference in Oslo on May 7th.
The 72 MMboe oil and gas discovery in the North Sea is considered one of the top 3 discoveries in 2023.
The jury recognized that the partners had taken a risk by drilling oil zones that had been attempted drilled in previous and recent past, and by using an innovative and bold method: drilling horizontal wells for several kilometers.
Petter Frantzen, Exploration Geoscientist in Aker BP, presented the discovery at the conference. He explained the reasons for why the partners decided to drill long horizontal wells through the complex reservoirs, including better mapping of oil-water contact(s), top structure, intra-reservoir barriers, and continuity of oil accumulations. A secondary objective was to gain horizontal drilling experience prior to production well drilling.
In total, about 11 km of horizontal reservoir data was acquired.
Frantzen also noted that Øst Frigg Beta/Epsilon opens new opportunities in producing and past-producing oil fields in turbiditic reservoirs, as it has been proven that intra-reservoir shales work as hydrocarbon seals.
The discovery has increased the overall resources in the Yggdrasil development area by approximately 10 percent, improving the profitability of one of the biggest current development projects on the NCS. Yggdrasil, expected to start production in 2027, currently consists of 9 fields and more than 700 million MMboe.
Some features make this particular discovery unique. When the wildcat well reached its target, the team had drilled 8,168 meters, making it Norway’s longest exploration well ever.
Also of interest is the fact that the area has a long production history. Øst Frigg consists of the Alfa and Beta structures. Elf Petroleum produced the gas in the structures in the 80s and 90s, while a 10 m oil column in Alfa was left behind.
Although the 2023 well only encountered two thin oil columns in the Alfa structure, highly promising discoveries were made in the Beta (oil) and Epsilon (oil and gas) structures.
Aker BP is planning 55 wells in the Yggdrasil area with drilling to commence in 2025. The development will have a lot of flexibility built into it – it is designed with the expectation of making future discoveries, such as Øst Frigg Beta/Epsilon.
The Exploration Innovation Prize is awarded to a license group, company, or team that during the last few years has given a courageous and innovative technological contribution to exploration for oil and gas on the Norwegian continental shelf.
The recipient has matured an exploration technology with high potential leading to increased G&G knowledge or future commercial oil & gas discoveries.
Aker BP accredit Subsurface Project Manager Torstein Skorve as a key person for the successful exploration efforts at Øst Frigg Beta/Epsilon. Skorve was unable to attend the conference.
Previous EIP winners – technology
Exploration Robot (Aker BP 2023)
Released Wells Initiative (Norsk olje og gass 2021)
TopSeis (CGG & Lundin Norway 2019)Previous EIP winners – discoveries
Liatårnet (Aker BP 2020)
Cara (Engie 2018)The Exploration Innovation Prize is awarded to a license group, company, or team that during the last few years has given a courageous and innovative contribution to exploration for oil and gas on the Norwegian continental shelf.
The recipient of the EIP Technology award has matured an exploration technology with high potential leading to increased G&G knowledge or future commercial oil & gas discoveries.
The recipient of the EIP Discovery award has matured and drilled a prospect that can be defined as high risk and high potential. The prospect must have been drilled, but can be classified as dry, technical discovery or commercial discovery.