6706/6-1

General

Wildcat well 6706/6-1 is a true frontier well. It was drilled to test the hydrocarbon potential of the Cretaceous Hvitveis prospect at the Naglfar Dome in the Vøring Basin. The objective for Well 6706/6-1 was to test a seismically defined reservoir interval, interpreted to be a Nise Formation Equivalent.

Operations and results

Wildcat well 6706/6-1 was spudded with the dynamically positioned vessel West Navigator in 1298 m water depth on 2 May 2003 and drilled to TD at 3451 m in Paleocene sediments. Drilling started with a 9 7/8" pilot hole to 2050 m with MWD logging. High-risk shallow gas anomaly had been mapped 490 m east of the location. No shallow gas or boulder problems were encountered in the pilot hole. The main hole was drilled from a location ca 100 m south of the pilot hole. A hard crust about 1.5 m below the sea floor caused the bit to skid ca 40 m from the planned position in the first spud. In the second attempt the bit skidded 6 m before it entered the crust. This was within acceptable limits and drilling of the main hole could commence without significant problems. The well was drilled with seawater and hi-vis pills down to 2050 m and with KCl/Glydril mud from 2050 m to TD. First returns were at 2060 m.

Biostratigraphic analyses showed that the entire section from 2060 m (first returns) to 3451 m (TD) was deposited during the Alisocysta margarita dinoflagellate zone, representing approximately 4 million years of sedimentation in the late Danian and early Selandian. The two uppermost cuttings samples (2060 m and 2080 m) show well-preserved Alisocysta margarita and Palaeocystodinium bulliforme, together with reworked Late Cretaceous dinoflagellates. The conventional core and sidewall cores in the lowermost 170 metres of the well contain sparse and very poorly preserved A. margarita, P. bulliforme, Deflandrea spp., and Senoniasphaera inornata. The contrast in prese