BP Canada finds no ‘commercial quantities of oil’ in Scotian Basin well

There is not enough oil in one of the wells at the Scotian Basin drilling project to make it commercially viable and BP Canada and their partner the Hess Corporation will now proceed to plug, abandon and permanently seal it, the companies announced on Monday.

Hess says they completed their drilling of the 7,400 metre deep well known as Aspy D-11 on Friday with the company reporting that they did “not encounter commercial quantities of hydrocarbons.”

BP Canada and Hess each hold a 50 percent participating interest in the Scotian Basin venture. Along with BP abandoning the well Hess say it will write off its share of the well cost.

READ MORE: BP Canada gets approval to drill a well off Nova Scotia coast

Located approximately 330 kilometres off the coast of Halifax, the well was established after the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board (CNSOPB) provided BP Canada with authorization in April.

In June a spill of 136,000 litres of synthetic drilling mud was reported coming from the location of the Aspy D-11 well. Synthetic-based mud is a heavy, dense fluid used during drilling to lubricate the drill pipe and regulate reservoir pressure.

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An early investigation by the company indicated the spill occurred in piping about 30 metres below sea level.

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The Aspy D-11 exploration well was the first of what could be as many as seven exploration wells to be established over a three-year period.

That decision has raised the ire of several environmental and conservation groups that have raised concerns about the risk of a spill.

BP Canada and Hess each hold a 50 percent participating interest in the Scotian Basin venture.

Last year, Shell announced it would seal the second of two exploration wells off Nova Scotia after they also didn’t find commercial quantities of oil.

Promoters had hoped deep water plays like the efforts by BP and Shell would help rekindle the industry off Nova Scotia, as the Sable Offshore Energy Project winds down in the shallower basins.

With files from The Canadian Press and Graeme Benjamin