The well, licenced to GDF SUEZ E&P Norge AS, was drilled some 65 kilometres southwest of the already discovered oil and gas discovery Johan Sverdrup. The area, located 130 kilometres northwest of the Snøhvit gas field was believed to contain more oil, oil enough to make secure development of the Johan Castberg field.
It is the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate that Thursday reports about the zero-interesting findings at the well, with only small none-commercial traces of gas. The well has now been permanently plugged and abandoned.
Statoil, licenseholder at Johan Castberg field, last spring postponed development of the field and admits it is a marginal field. A plan to bring the oil onshore for terminal reloading at Veidnes near North Cape in Finnmark is also in jeopardy as Statoil says the findings in the area are too small for the development of land-based facilities.
“The disappointing geological knowledge which we now possess indicates that such a solution will simply be one size to big for us”, Statoil’s regional director Erik Strand Tellefsen told DN.no. “We need to adjust our coat to a small project”, he adds.
