Lundin Petroleum AB, through its wholly owned subsidiary Lundin Norway AS, has successfully completed the drilling of appraisal well 7120/1-4S in the western part of the Gohta discovery in Production License (PL) 492 in the Barents Sea offshore Norway, the company said in a news release.

The well was drilled 5.3 km (3.3 miles) northwest of the original Gohta discovery well.

The main objectives of well 7120/1-4S were to confirm the extent and reservoir properties of the Permian carbonates and to establish the oil-water and gas-oil contacts in the western parts of the structure.

The well encountered 10 m (33 ft) of Upper Permian limestone conglomerate with good reservoir properties overlying fractured limestones of limited reservoir quality. The conglomeratic interval contained gas condensate, and the limestone contained traces of oil but appears to be tight. The depth interval of the oil traces in the appraisal well corresponds with the oil column in the 7120/1-3 discovery well.

Extensive data acquisition and sampling were carried out in the reservoir including conventional coring and fluid sampling. The pressure and fluid properties indicate communication between the reservoirs in the two wells on the Gohta structure.

Two production tests were performed in the well. An attempt was made to test a 50-m (164-ft) interval starting 23 m (75 ft) below the estimated gas-oil contact followed by a test of the 10-m thick conglomerate interval. The oil zone test instantaneously produced gas at a rate of 181 Mcm/d (6.4 MMcf/d). Pressure buildup data showed drainage from a porous reservoir as a result of insufficient isolation between the oil and gas zones on the outside of the production liner. The oil zone test therefore was not conclusive.

The test of the 10-m thick gas condensate zone produced 748 Mcm/d (26.4 MMcf/d) of gas and 880 bbl/d of condensate. The pressure buildup analysis showed the test draining an area with a radius of at least 1,000 m (3,281 ft) out from the well. The results confirmed good production characteristics in the matrix of the limestone conglomerate.

Appraisal well 7120/1-4S is the second well drilled in PL492 after it was assigned in 2008. It was drilled to a total depth of 2,490 m (8,169 ft) below sea level. The water depth was 331.5 m (1,088 ft).