Valiant Petroleum has announced that drilling is completed on exploration well 6407/5-2S on PL471 located in the Norwegian Sea. The primary Chamonix target, a Cretaceous-age stratigraphic trap, was found to be dry having encountered poorly developed sands in the drill location. However, the well has made a small gas discovery in the secondary Cortina target having encountered a gross gas column of about 40 meters in the Upper and Middle Jurassic sandstones of the Rogn and Garn formations.
An extensive data sampling program has been undertaken giving important information to de-risk similar nearby prospects. The discovery will be evaluated with the view to determine viability as a tie-back as part of a larger field development to surrounding infrastructure.
The well was drilled in a water depth of 230 meters using the semisubmersible rig Borgland Dolphin and was completed ahead of schedule and budget without any operational problems. The well has a deviated path and was terminated in the Lower Jurassic Tilje Formation at a vertical depth of 3359 m below sea surface. The partners in license PL471 are OMV Norge (50%, operator), Noreco (30%) and Valiant (20%).
Peter Buchanan, CEO, commented, “We are pleased to have made a small gas discovery on our first exploration well in Norway and we look forward to continuing to work together with our partners in order to fully evaluate its potential and the prospectivity of the rest of the license.”
