StatoilHydro drills ‘disappointing’ Arctic well

OSLO (Reuters) – Norwegian oil and gas group StatoilHydro (STL.OL) has drilled a “disappointing” appraisal well in the Barents Sea, the company and energy officials said on Monday.

The company drilled the well at its Obesum prospect where an exploration well struck oil and gas last year.

“No oil was found in the appraisal well, and thus the size of the oil component is considered minimal,” the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said in a statement.

“Neither the oil nor the gas discovery in the shallower level is considered commercially interesting,” the NPD said of the well drilled 175 kilometres (109 miles) north-northwest of the far northern Norwegian town of Hammerfest.

…Oil companies on the Norwegian continental shelf have turned their gaze northwards to the Arctic in the hope of finding new resources as production at North Sea oilfields is in decline and discoveries off Norway in recent years have been slim.

StatoilHydro confirmed in a separate statement that the gas discovery was “too small and complicated to be deemed commercial.”

Reuters