Norway’s oil giant Statoil ASA (STO) and its partners have struck oil and gas in the Askja area of the North Sea, its news dep’t reports, adding that the semisubmersible Ocean Vanguard rig was used for two exploration wells between the Oseberg and Frigg fields, about 13 kilometer southeast of Statoil’s Krafla/Krafla West discoveries.
The main drilling tested the Askja West prospect, where a net gas column of 90 meters in Late - Middle Jurassic rocks was proven. In the same formation, a test of the Askja East prospect proved an oil column of 131 feet. Total estimated recoverable volume in Askja West and Askja East is expected to run 19 - 44 million barrels of oil equivalent.