Lundin Petroleum AB, through its wholly owned subsidiary Lundin Norway AS, announced in a press release that Johan Sverdrup appraisal well 16/5-4, located in the southwestern part of PL501, found an oil column of approximately 6 m (20 ft) in excellent quality sandstone of Upper Jurassic age. The well is successfully completed.

Appraisal well 16/5-4 is located at the southwestern flank of the Johan Sverdrup discovery in the North Sea. It was drilled approximately 4 km (2.5 miles) southwest of appraisal well 16/5-2S and approximately 3 km (2 miles) southeast of well 16/5-3 (PL502), Lundin said. The well found an oil-filled 6-m gross reservoir section of excellent-quality sand with a very high net-to-gross ratio.

The top of the reservoir was found according to prognosis and 16 m (52 ft) above the probable oil water contact of 1,922 m (6,306 ft) mean sea level. The reservoir sequence is entirely of late Jurassic age resting on Triassic sediments, according to the press release. No oil-water contact was established.

The well was drilled to a total depth of 2,075 m (6,808 ft) below mean sea level into sediments of most likely Triassic sediments. A comprehensive coring and logging program has been successfully completed, the company said. A pressure gauge is installed in the hole to monitor the reservoir pressure for a period of two to five years. The well is permanently abandoned.

“The major uncertainties associated with this appraisal well were the time-depth conversion to the top of the reservoir and the presence of reservoir,” Ashely Heppenstall, Lundin president and CEO, said in the release. “In this respect we are pleased to have proved the extension of the reservoir at this location with excellent sand quality.”

The well was drilled using the semisubmersible drilling rig Bredford Dolphin. The rig will now drill appraisal well 16/3-7 at the southeastern flank of the Johan Sverdrup discovery, also located in PL501, according to the press release.

Lundin Norway is operator of PL501 with a 40% interest. Its partners are Statoil Petroleum AS with a 40% interest and Maersk Oil Norway AS with a 20% interest.