No luck in finding new oil in Barents Sea

Sept. 27 (UPI) — There was no luck in finding new oil near a field in the Barents Sea that had its size revised higher earlier this year, a Norwegian energy regulator said.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, the nation’s energy regulator, published results Wednesday for a wildcat well drilled by the regional subsidiary of Italian energy company ENI. A wildcat well is one drilled in an area not previously known to contain hydrocarbons and the target site was about 6 miles away from the proven Goliat field in the Barents Sea.

“The well is classified as dry,” the NPD stated.

ENI operates Goliat through floating production platforms. The company already has approval from the Norwegian government to develop the Snadd prospect within the field. In March, the NPD said two wells drilled in the Snadd reservoir within the Goliat license area in the Barents Sea meant an increase in the estimates reserves by 7.5 million barrels.

ENI previously estimated total reserves in Goliat at 179 million barrels. A peak rate of 100,000 barrels of oil per day is expected from field.

A gas leak following regular maintenance operations forced a month-long shutdown of operations at Goliat last year.

Apart from Russia, Norway is one of the leading energy suppliers to the European economy, designating nearly all of its offshore production for exports. The government reported preliminary figures for August at 1.55 million barrels of oil per day on average, slightly lower than it expected.