ConocoPhillips has made an oil and gas discovery with a wildcat drilled at the Busta prospect near Vaar Energi’s Balder and Ringhorne fields off Norway.

The 25/7-7 probe unearthed two separate gas condensate and oil-bearing layers totalling about 25 metres in the primary target in the Draupne formation after being drilled by semi-submersible rig Leiv Eiriksson in ConocoPhillips-operated production licence 782S in the North Sea.

The preliminary resource estimate for the find is between 6 million and 63 million barrels of oil equivalent, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD).

“The licensees will further assess the well result with regard to delineation [and] profitability, as well as investigation of nearby prospects,” the agency said in a statement.

The well was the first to be drilled in the licence that was awarded in the country’s Awards in Pre-defined Areas round in 2014.

It was sunk to a vertical depth of 4705 metres below sea level in a water depth of 127 metres and will now be permanently plugged and abandoned.

The probe was part of a three-well exploration campaign by the US supermajor and the Transocean-owned rig will now be mobilised to drill a wildcat at the Hasselbaink prospect in its operated PL917 in the same area, with the Ennisberg prospect also lined up for drilling.

Exploration

ConocoPhillips pay day at Busta