Marathon and partners complete drilling in Norwegian North Sea

Marathon Petroleum Norge, operator of production license 203, has completed the drilling of wildcat well 25/4-10 S at the Viper prospect in the Norwegian North Sea. The well, which encountered oil, was drilled about 6 km south of the production ship on the Alvheim field in the central North Sea.
The size of the discovery is estimated to be between 5 to 10 mm barrels of recoverable oil. It is likely that the discovery will be developed as a subsea tieback to the Alvheim FPSO.

The objective of the well was to prove petroleum in the Hermod Formation in Palaeocene age reservoir rocks updip of a nearby discovery well. The well was successful encountering an oil column and an extensive data acquisition has been completed.
The well was drilled as a first branch of a dual branched exploration well to a vertical depth of 2,196 m. The second branch will target the South Kneler prospect in the Heimdal formation.

Well 25/4-10 S is the sixth exploration well in production licence 203. The license was awarded in the 15th licensing round in 1996. 25/4-10 S was drilled to a vertical depth of 2,196 meters below the sea surface, and was terminated in Palaeocene rocks (the Heimdal formation). The water depth at the site is 126 meters. The well will be permanently plugged and abandoned.
The well was drilled by the Transocean Winner semisubmersible, which will now proceed to drill wildcat well 25/4-10 A in the same production licence.