Statoil (OSE:STL, NYSE:STO) Canada and co-venturer Husky Energy have announced that the first Bay du Nord exploration well has discovered between 300 and 600 million barrels of oil recoverable.
The Bay du Nord discovery, located approximately 500 kilometres northeast of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, was announced in August. A sidetrack well has been completed this week and confirms a high impact discovery. Additional prospective resources have been identified which require further delineation.
The Bay du Nord discovery is Statoil's third discovery in the Flemish Pass Basin. The Mizzen discovery is estimated to hold a total of 100-200 million barrels of oil recoverable. The Harpoon discovery, announced in June, is still under evaluation and volumes cannot be confirmed at this stage.
The Bay du Nord well encountered light oil of 34 API and excellent Jurassic reservoirs with high porosity and high permeability.
"It is exciting that Statoil is opening a new basin offshore Newfoundland," says Tim Dodson, executive vice president of Statoil Exploration. "This brings us one step closer to becoming a producing operator in the area."
"With only a few wells drilled in a large licenced area, totalling about 8,500 square kilometres, more work is required," adds Dodson. "This will involve new seismic as well as additional exploration and appraisal drilling to confirm these estimates before the partnership can decide on an optimal development solution in this frontier basin."
The successful drilling results from the Flemish Pass Basin demonstrate how Statoil's exploration strategy of early access at scale and focus on high-impact opportunities is paying off. As an early player in the area, Statoil has confirmed its understanding of the basin and has opened a new oil play offshore Canada. The Flemish Pass has the potential to become a core producing area for Statoil post-2020.
All three discoveries are in approximately 1,100 metres of water. Mizzen was drilled by the semi-submersible rig Henry Goodrich (2009). The Bay du Nord and Harpoon wells were drilled by the semi-submersible rig West Aquarius (2013).
Statoil is the operator of Mizzen, Harpoon and Bay du Nord with a 65% interest. Husky Energy has a 35% interest.
