Three exciting discoveries on the Norwegian Continental Shelf have been nominated and selected by a jury to win the prestigious Exploration Innovation Prize.
The Exploration Innovation Prize (EIP) is awarded to a license group, company, or team that has given a courageous and innovative technological contribution to exploration for oil and gas on the Norwegian continental shelf during the last two years.
The operators of the respective discoveries will present at the NCS Exploration – Recent Discoveries conference in Oslo in May, and the winner will be announced during the conference dinner.
The three finalists are:
Oswig (operator OMV)
The 25 MMboe gas and condensate discovery in the North Sea is considered a top 5 discovery on the Norwegian Continental Shelf in 2022.
The 100-meter hydrocarbon column was encountered in a fault block in Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks in the Tarbert formation at a depth of at least 4,500 meters. The reservoir is characterized by high temperature and pressure.
Although the reservoir quality proved poor, the drill stem test proved the ability of Oswig to flow hydrocarbons.
OMV and partners believe there is upside potential in the license. They have identified several nearby structures, including the Oswig South prospect in the same fault block, which they plan to drill in 2024.
The crest of the Oswig South prospect is located at a shallower depth than Oswig and is therefore expected to have better reservoir quality. The prospect has the potential to double the size of the existing discovery.
The current estimate for recoverable volumes in Oswig is between 10 and 42 MMboe.
OMV’s partners in Oswig are Longboat JAPEX, Wintershall Dea and Source Energy.
Norma (operator DNO)
The 70 MMboe gas condensate discovery in the deeper parts of the Viking Graben in the North Sea was one of the top 3 discoveries on the NCS in 2023.
The hydrocarbons were encountered at a depth of 4,650 meters, and the discovery was DNO’s first operated HP/HT exploration well.
Norma is a play-opener in the area, as a 16-meter hydrocarbon column has now been proven in deep turbiditic sands with “exceptionally good” reservoir quality.
The prospect was on the cards to be drilled before, but the previous licence holders could not make it work and dropped the licence without testing the geology. If anything, it shows that a new pair of eyes and another strategy work in terms of getting prospects drilled. DNO sees an upside in the license, as they have identified several additional exploration prospects that have been de-risked given the success at Norma.
Before further appraisal drilling, improved seismic imaging and remapping will be undertaken to identify an optimal location for the next well.
Øst Frigg Beta/Epsilon (operator Aker BP)
The 72 MMboe oil and gas discovery in the North Sea is considered one of the top 3 discoveries in 2023.
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, more 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 program can be found on the conference website. The place is Oslo (Fornebu), and the dates are May 7. – 8. 2024.