Faroe Petroleum reported Monday that its Novus exploration well (6507/10-2S) in the Norwegian Sea has made a small discovery of between six and 15 million barrels of oil equivalent in recoverable resources. Faroe said that, due to the presence of a large gas cap in the reservoir, Novus is unlikely to be of commercial size on its own. However, nearby de-risked prospects and leads do offer the potential for a future commercial combination involving Novus. It is located some five miles to the south of the Statoil-operated, producing Heidrun oilfield in the Halten Terrace hydrocarbon province of the Norwegian Sea.

The well, which was targeting Jurassic reservoirs, encountered a 39-foot net gas column and a 41-foot net oil column in a high-quality, thicker-than-expected Garn formation, Faroe said. The firm added that the well result will be used to refine the geological model of the area and de-risk additional prospects and leads on the license for potential future drilling.

Faroe is the operator of the Novus well (with a 30-percent interest). The firm said that the well will now be plugged and abandoned. The Novus well was drilled by the West Navigator (DW drillship). Faroe Chief Executive Graham Stewart commented in a company statement:

"We are pleased to announce a small discovery of oil in the Novus prospect and the de-risking of the identified structures and prospects which remain in the license, through the successfully calibrated seismic data. The well confirms the robustness of our geophysical model and the team's ability, and there is real potential for Novus to have future commercial value in combination with a discovery from one of the identified and de-risked prospects and leads in the immediate vicinity.

"Elsewhere in Norway, the exploration campaign continues, following the significant Snilehorn discovery announced in November 2013, with the current drilling of the Butch East well (Faroe 15 percent), located close to the producing Ula, Tambar and Gyda oilfields. Also drilling currently is the Pil exploration well which is in close proximity to the Njord hub facilities. We look forward to the commencement of drilling on the Solberg (Faroe 20 percent) and Butch South West (Faroe 15 percent) prospects, both in Norway in the near future."