OSLO: DNO ASA, the Norwegian oil and gas operator, confirmed an oil and gas discovery on the Røver Nord prospect in the Norwegian North Sea license PL923 in which the Company holds a 20 percent interest.

Preliminary estimates of gross recoverable resources are in the range of 45-70 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe), well above pre-drill estimates.

The exploration well encountered a 45 meter gas and light oil column in the Oseberg formation, a six meter light oil column in the Drake formation and a 10 meter gas column in the Etive formation.

A sidetrack encountered a 17 meter light oil column in the Oseberg formation and a 12 meter light oil column in the Etive formation.

Following extensive data acquisition including logging, coring and fluid sampling, the discovery well was plugged and abandoned, and the rig moved off location.

The partners are considering fast-track development of the discovery with tie-back to nearby Troll area infrastructure, as well as additional drilling to test other identified prospects on the license.

“Coming on the heels of the Bergknapp discovery in 2020 in which DNO has a 30 percent interest, we continue to gain traction and materiality in our North Sea exploration program,” said Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani, DNO’s Executive Chairman.

DNO has scheduled another five exploration and appraisal wells in the North Sea this year, including the highly anticipated Edinburgh prospect that straddles the Norway-United Kingdom border (DNO 45 percent) and the Gomez prospect offshore Norway (DNO 85 percent).

The partners in license PL923, in addition to the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary DNO Norge AS, include Equinor ASA as operator with 40 percent and Petoro AS and Wellesley Petroleum AS with 20 percent each.

DNO has 76 licenses in Norway (of which 19 are operated) including eight producing licenses with combined average daily production of 16,500 barrels of oil equivalent in 2020 and six licenses with discoveries pending decisions about development. In the latest APA licensing round DNO was granted another 10 exploration licenses of which four are operated.

DNO ASA is a Norwegian oil and gas operator focused on the Middle East and the North Sea. www.dno.no