OMV and its partners have made a gas discovery in production licence (PL) 1016, around 45km south-east of the Equinor Energy-operated Aasta Hansteen field in the Norwegian Sea, following the drilling of well 6607/3-1 S.
In 6607/3-1 S, a gas/condensate column of around 9m in the Nise Formation was identified, of which around 5m is in a sandstone reservoir with quality varying from moderate to very good.
Located 225km west of Sandnessjøen, 6607/3-1 S has been drilled using the Transocean Norge rig to vertical and measured depths of 3,645m and 3,770m below sea level, respectively.
As per the preliminary estimates, the discovery holds 0.2–1.8 million cubic metres of recoverable oil equivalent.
The drilling was aimed at verifying petroleum in reservoir rocks in the Nise formation in the Upper Cretaceous.
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said that the three licensees, OMV, Inpex Idemitsu and Longboat Japex, will continue to work on gas discovery assessment.
In a separate announcement, OMV Petrom has signed a natural gas purchase contract with Turkish national oil and gas company BOTAŞ.
Under the contract, which has a period of 18 months, Turkey's state gas grid operator will supply up to 1.5 billion cubic metres of natural gas to OMV Petrom.
The contract is effective from October 2023.
OMV Petrom executive board member Franck Neel said: "Natural gas is essential for a successful energy transition. Through the contract signed with BOTAŞ, we ensure access to a new source of natural gas for Romania, and we contribute to the consolidation of the country's energy supply. In addition, the memorandum will enable the diversification of LNG [liquefied natural gas] access to Romania.”
