OREANDA-NEWS. Statoil has completed appraisal well 16/5-3 together with partners Petoro and Det norske oljeselskap. The well confirms that the Johan Sverdrup field extends into production license 502 and proves a small additional upside to the field's resources.

Well 16/5-3 was drilled in PL502 – the neighboring license to PL265 and PL501 – with a purpose of testing if the Johan Sverdrup field extends into this area.
The well proved a 13,5 metre oil column in a high quality Jurassic reservoir and confirmed communication with the rest of the Johan Sverdrup field. This represents an additional upside to the Johan Sverdrup resources.

"Results of well 16/5-3 will be integrated in the on-going development work for the Johan Sverdrup field ", says Oivind Reinertsen, senior vice president for Johan Sverdrup field development.  "The PL502 volumes will be included in the total resource estimate for Johan Sverdrup which Statoil as pre-unit operator will communicate by the end of 2013".

Results of well 16/5-3 in PL502 indicate as well that there may be further upside potential in the area.
"The new subsurface data we got from well 16/5-3 have a positive impact on our evaluation of further upside potential west of the current outline of the Johan Sverdrup field", says Gro Haatvedt, senior vice president exploration Norway. "Later this year Statoil will drill an exploration well in the Cliffhanger prospect in PL265. This will be an important step to clarify and capture the full potential in the Johan Sverdrup area".

Statoil is operator for production licence PL502 with an ownership share of 44,44%. The licence partners are Petoro AS (33,33%) and Det norske oljeselskap ASA (22,22%).