Norwegian oil and gas company OKEA has discovered oil near the Brage field in production license (PL) 055 in the Norwegian North Sea.

The oil discovery was made following the drilling of well 31/4-A 13 E in the northern part of the North Sea.

According to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD), the discovery holds between 0.2 and 0.5 million standard cubic metres of proven recoverable oil.

The decision to drill a horizontal sidetrack, well 31/4-A 13 E, was based on data collected during the drilling operation.

Following drilling, this well encountered the Sognefjord Formation at 2,147m below sea level. It showed oil in a sandstone layer of around 10m in reservoir rocks with ‘moderate to good reservoir quality’.

OKEA also completed drilling of production well 31/4-A-13 D, which was extended to reach exploration targets in two different reservoirs. These two targets were dry.

In a press statement, NPD said: “In connection with the drilling of production well 31/4-A-13 D in the southern part of the Brage field, the well was extended to reach two exploration targets in a separate structure south of the field.

“The exploration targets were in the Sognefjord and Fensfjord Formation, and both were dry.”

The company did not conduct a formation test at the well but carried out data acquisition.

The two wells, 31/4-A 13 E and 31/4-A-13 D, have been drilled from the platform on the Brage field, which was commissioned in 1993.

Recently, OKEA commissioned the Hasselmus gas discovery in the Norwegian Sea.

Hasselmus, which is a subsea tie-back to the Draugen platform, is expected to have peak production of 4,400 barrels of oil equivalent per day.