Eni wildcat strikes out northeast of Johan Castberg

STAVANGER, Norway -- Eni Norge, operator of production license 226, is in the process of completing the drilling of wildcat well 7222/1-1. The well is dry.

The well was drilled about 80 km northeast of Johan Castberg oil field and about 250 km north of Hammerfest.

The objective of the well was to prove petroleum in Middle Triassic (Kobbe formation) and Permian (Ørn formation) reservoir rocks. Secondary targets were Late Triassic (Snadd formation) and Permian (Røye formation) reservoir rocks.

The well encountered 22 ms of poor quality sandstone reservoir with traces of gas in the Kobbe formation. The well was terminated before it reached the Ørn formation. Two aquiferous sandstone reservoirs (Carn and Ladin) were encountered in the Snadd formation. They both had moderate reservoir quality. An 18-m aquiferous carbonate reservoir with poor reservoir quality was encountered in the Røye formation.

Extensive data acquisition and sampling have been carried out.

This is the first wildcat well in production license 226, which was awarded on May 30, 1997, in the Barents Sea project.

Well 7222/1-1 was drilled to a vertical depth of 2,366 m below the sea surface and was terminated in the Røye formation from the Permian Age.

The well was drilled by the Scarabeo 8 semisubmersible.