Faroe Petroleum reaches depth target on Bister well; no hydrocarbons found

Faroe Petroleum, the UK-headquartered independent oil and gas company focusing principally on exploration, appraisal and production opportunities in Norway and the UK, announces that drilling has reached target depth on the Statoil operated Bister exploration well in the Norwegian Sea (Faroe 7.5%).

The Bister exploration well 6407/8-7 spudded on 27 April 2015 and reached total vertical depth of 2,990 m below sea level in the Åre Jurassic formation. This was followed by side-track 6407/8-7A, which was drilled to a total vertical depth of 2,770 m below sea level. The well and side-track targeted hydrocarbons in the Jurassic, Ile, Tilje and Åre formations (analogous to the Hyme oil field and Snilehorn reservoirs) and whilst good quality reservoirs were confirmed, no hydrocarbons were encountered at this location.

The Bister prospect is located in the Norwegian Sea in Licence PL 348/C, which is adjacent to the 2013 Snilehorn discovery (PL 348B) and nearby the producing Njord field and Hyme field (PL 348) (all Faroe 7.5%) and the results from the well will be used to calibrate the seismic interpretations in the licence, which still contains promising exploration targets. Statoil Petroleum AS is the operator of the PL348 licences and the Njord field.

The Bister well was operated by Statoil (35%) using the Transocean Spitsbergen drilling rig with partners GDF SUEZ E&P Norge AS (15%), E.ON E&P Norge AS (17.5%), Core Energy AS (22.5%) and VNG Norge AS (2.5%) and will now be plugged and abandoned as planned.

Graham Stewart, Chief Executive of Faroe Petroleum says that while the results for the Bister exploration well are disappointing, it, nevertheless provided an opportunity to add further resources to an already resource rich licence, which includes the producing Hyme field and the significant 2013 Snilehorn discovery.

He said that it is the second well in Faroe’s 2015 exploration programme, following the successful completion of the recent Skirne East discovery. During the coming months, drilling will start on the first of two follow-up wells at the significant Pil discovery (Faroe 25%) on the Blink and Boomerang prospects