6706/6-2 S

General

Well 6706/6-2 S was drilled to test the Marisko prospect in the Hel Graben deep waters in the Norwegian Sea. The primary objective was to test the hydrocarbon potential in turbiditic sandstones of the Late Cretaceous Nise Formation

Operations and results

A pilot hole 6706/6-U-2 was drilled 30 m away from the main bore location in a 9 7/8" hole to de-risk a shallow anomaly and determine the base of the siliceous Ooze. Afterwards the main bore 6706/6-2 S was initially drilled vertically, with build up to 38 degrees during the 8 1/2'' and 6'' hole sections.

Wildcat well 6706/6-2 S was spudded with the semi-submersible installation Transocean Spitsbergen on 4 December 2018 and drilled to TD at 3916 m (3767 m TVD) m in Early Paleocene sediments. Operations proceeded without significant problems, but due to bad weather 20% of the rig-time was waiting on weather. The well was drilled with seawater down to 2099 m and with Innovert oil-based mud from 2099 m to TD.

Two main sandstone units, Sandstone 1 and Sandstone 2, were penetrated but proved to be Paleocene age Intra-Tang sandstones rather than Nise sandstones. Sandstone 1 was dated to the Selandian and Sandstone 2 to the Danian.

Biostratigraphy in this area is difficult due to the largely resedimented nature of the turbidite sands, showing an overwhelmingly Cretaceous micropaleologic assemblage. However, due to the presence also of Paleocene microfossils in cored samples a Cretaceous age is impossible while a Paleocene age must be correct. </