Total has found oil with a wildcat well located some seven miles east of the Heimdel field in the central North Sea, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate reported Friday. The 25/5-9 well was targeting hydrocarbons in Paleocene reservoir rocks (the Heimdel formation), known as the Trell prospect. It found a 69-foot gross oil column of which 62 feet were of good reservoir quality, the NPD said. Oil/water contact was also established.

The preliminary estimate of the size of the discovery is between 3.1 million and 6.3 million barrels of oil. The licensees will assess the discovery together with nearby prospects with regard to further follow up, the NPD added. The well marks the first exploration well in production license 102F. This license was awarded in October 2013.

Well 25/5-9 was drilled by the Leiv Eiriksson (DW semisub) rig, which will now move to production license 420 in the northern North Sea to drill appraisal well 35/9-11S for RWE Dea Norge.
The PL102 F licensees are Total with 40 percent, Petoro (30%), Lotos Exploration and Production Norge (10%), Det norske oljeselskap (10%) and Ithaca (10%).