The Wisting Central II long reach horizontal well (7324/7-3S) has encountered an oil column, successfully exploring and appraising the south and west segments of the Wisting Field, Tullow Oil said in a news release.

The well was drilled about 5 km southwest of the Wisting discovery well in the Barents Sea.

Results of drilling, wireline logs and samples of reservoir fluids show that the well encountered a 22-m oil column in a 1,402-m horizontal section with 1,250 m of net light oil pay, Tullow said in the release.

The main reservoir encountered was thicker than expected pre-drill, Tullow said. A constrained production test was carried out in the Stø Formation with a flow rate of about 5,000 boe/d, which Tullow said demonstrated excellent reservoir properties. The results are expected to increase in-place volumes in the central south and central west segments, reducing the overall uncertainty of resources in PL537.

The well was drilled by the semisubmersible drilling rig Transocean Spitsbergen. The well was drilled to respective vertical and measured depths of 673 m and 2,314 m in a water depth of 402 m, the release said. The Wisting Central Complex is located in PL537 in which Tullow has a 20% interest. OMV Norge is the operator with a 25% interest. Idemitsu holds 20% interest; Statoil, 15%; and Petoro, 20%.

Offshore