Persistence Rewarded as Statoil Strike Energy-rich Barents Sea Source

Statoil ASA has together with its partners Eni Norge AS and Petoro AS made an oil and gas discovery in the Skavl prospect in PL532, close to Johan Castberg in the Barents Sea.

Well 7220/7-2 S, drilled by the rig West Hercules, has proven a 22-metre gas column and a 23-metre oil column in the Jurassic Tubåen formation, and a 133-metre oil column in the Triassic Fruholmen formation. Statoil estimates the volumes in Skavl to be in the range of 20-50 million barrels of recoverable oil.

"Statoil puts a lot of effort into proving additional oil resources in the Johan Castberg area in order to make the field development project more robust. We are pleased to see that our efforts are now paying off," says Gro G. Haatvedt, Statoil's senior vice president for exploration on the Norwegian continental shelf.

"Skavl was the third of the four wells in the Johan Castberg area we have on our drilling plan this year. The first two wells, Nunatak and Iskrystall, proved only gas, but we know from experience that it takes stamina and persistence to succeed in the Barents Sea," says Haatvedt.

Statoil say they will continue to explore for oil resources in the Johan Castberg area. After completion of Skavl, the drilling rig will move 16 kilometres north to drill the Kramsnø prospect which is the last of the four prospects scheduled to be tested in 2013.