Spirit Energy and partners have successfully completed appraisal drilling on the Lille Prinsen discovery on the Utsira High in the Norwegian North Sea. According to the operator the two wells have confirmed a gross resource range of 12–60 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe).

The wells in PL167 aimed to verify the hydrocarbon potential in the Lille Prinsen discovery made in 2018. The 16/1-34 A well was seeking to prove reservoir and production properties in the Zechstein group and well 16/1-34 S was targeting an oil leg in the Heimdal formation.

According to the operator, the wells confirmed a gross resource range of 10–50 mmboe in the Lille Prinsen discoveries, and the drill stem test proved very good reservoir properties. A further discovery estimated at 2–10 mmboe was made in the Heimdal formation, also with good reservoir quality.

Cecilie Hiorth, exploration manager in Spirit Energy Norway, said: “The Lille Prinsen appraisals and tests are very positive. The Utsira High area is undoubtedly of great interest to us and the remaining prospectivity in PL167 is significant.

“This has been a good week for Spirit Energy, with news of positive appraisal and test results on both Lille Prinsen and Bergknapp.”

The partnership will now progress development studies to potentially submit a plan for development and operation (PDO) by the end of 2022.

Hiorth said: “We will work closely with our partners to determine the way forward. Also, there is further prospectivity in the surrounding area, which means that new discoveries could be added to a potential Lille Prinsen development.”

The Lille Prinsen discovery is located about 200 kilometres west of Stavanger in production licence 167.

The wells were drilled by the Deepsea Stavanger semi-submersible drilling rig. The PL167 partnership consists of Spirit Energy Norway AS (20%), Lundin Norway AS (40% and operator), Equinor Energy AS (30%) and Aker BP (10%).

About Spirit Energy

Spirit Energy Limited is a leading independent oil and gas operator in Europe, with 2020 production of nearly 45 mmboe, and 2020 year-end 2P reserves of 246 mmboe.
Spirit Energy has operated and non-operated interests across the UK, Norway and the Netherlands, with 33 producing fields and nearly 150 exploration licenses.
Employing more than 800 people, Spirit is headquartered in the UK, with offices in Staines-upon-Thames and Aberdeen in the UK; Stavanger in Norway, and Hoofddorp in the Netherlands. The business also owns and operates the Barrow Gas Terminals in the UK.
The company is owned by Centrica plc (69%) and Stadtwerke München Group (31%)