(WO) — An appraisal well has further delineated the Carmen gas-condensate discovery in Norway’s North Sea, increasing estimated recoverable resources to between 21 MMboe and 107 MMboe and opening the door to potential use of hydraulic fracturing to improve recovery rates.
The discovery is located in license PL1148, where the partnership includes operator Wellesley Petroleum (30%), DNO Norge (30%), Equinor Energy (30%) and Aker BP (10%).
According to DNO, the majority of recoverable volumes were encountered in the Etive Formation, where reservoir quality ranges from moderate to poor. The license partners are now evaluating hydraulic fracturing as a potential means of unlocking additional volumes from the reservoir.
“Tight reservoirs can be unlocked by fracing, a technique that has opened vast new oil and gas plays in the United States, but which is largely untested offshore Norway,” said DNO Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani. “We now know what is doable, so the industry should get cracking fracing and watch discoveries like Carmen sing.”
The partnership is also considering additional appraisal and exploration drilling, including prospects in the northern portion of the Carmen structure.
Development studies are underway to assess a potential tieback solution utilizing existing infrastructure in the area. Carmen is considered a candidate for tieback to the Kvitebjørn platform, located about 35 km west of the discovery. DNO holds a 19% interest in Kvitebjørn.
The appraisal results further strengthen DNO’s position in the area. The company recently acquired interests in the nearby Atlantis discovery (19%) and Afrodite discovery (10%), both of which are also viewed as potential tieback candidates to Kvitebjørn.
Meanwhile, the Deepsea Yantai drilling rig has moved from the Carmen location to appraise the Afrodite discovery, where partners will evaluate additional resource potential. Like Carmen, Afrodite is also considered a potential candidate for hydraulic fracturing to enhance recovery.
The latest appraisal results underscore continued exploration and development activity in the Norwegian North Sea, where operators are increasingly evaluating new technologies and infrastructure-led development concepts to maximize recovery from smaller discoveries.
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