Client: License partner with 24.8% stake
Asset: Under development with first production planned 2028, Norwegian North Sea
Our subsurface team provided independent subsurface technical advisory. Our work enabled the client to confidently engage with the license operator, influence strategic license direction, and protect asset value in a non‑operated North Sea gas discovery.
Through independent subsurface advisory, including QC and peer reviews, volumetrics and GIIP verification, static and dynamic reservoir model reviews, and structured uncertainty framing, AGR provided the confidence needed to support informed license decisions and protect asset value.
The Challenge: Managing Subsurface Risk as a Non‑Operator
The client engaged AGR to establish a robust technical foundation for a non‑operated gas discovery in the North Sea, allowing them to constructively challenge the operator’s field assumptions and influence the asset’s development direction. Key subsurface uncertainties were related to stratigraphic definition, well correlation, structural framework, depositional concepts, reservoir property modelling, and fluid contact scenarios.
These uncertainties had a direct impact on the understanding of reservoir geometry, connectivity, fluid distribution, and in‑place volumes, increasing the risk of misaligned development decisions. The client needed a clear, independent view on which uncertainties were most critical, how alternative scenarios could materially affect outcomes, and what technical evidence was required to support informed discussions with the operator.
Ultimately, the challenge was to establish a robust and defensible subsurface understanding that would enable the client to protect asset value and play an active, informed role in shaping the future license direction.
AGR’s Independent Subsurface Evaluation Approach
An experienced, multi‑disciplinary G&G team, covering petrophysics, geophysics, geology, and geomodelling, worked closely with the client.
AGR’s Reservoir Management & Asset Evaluation team worked closely with the client to define a targeted work strategy focused on the decisions with greatest impact on license development decisions and value protection. Leveraging deep North Sea experience, the team prioritised high‑impact analyses and de‑prioritised lower‑value work.
AGR provided independent quality control and verification of the operator’s reservoir property evaluation from logs and cores, strengthening confidence in the underlying data. To address uncertainty in gas container geometry driven by depositional and stratigraphic interpretations, AGR carried out an independent semi‑regional well correlation and tested the implications through targeted geological model sensitivities.
The seismic interpretation and depth conversion were independently reviewed, and a structured set of low‑ and high‑case geometric scenarios was developed to quantify uncertainty in gross rock volume. Finally, AGR performed an independent gas‑in‑place uncertainty assessment, with particular focus on the lateral distribution of gas across multiple licenses within the accumulation, providing the client with a clear, defensible basis to engage with the operator and influence strategic development decisions.
Our solution
- A 3D geological model, including a reference case and multiple scenarios to explicitly capture uncertainty in gas‑in‑place and gas distribution
- Decision‑focused report with clear, practical recommendations, supporting the client in their role as a confident and informed license partner
Outcome: Reduced Non-Operator Uncertainty and Technical Assurance for License Decisions
AGR enabled the client to move from uncertainty to informed influence, providing the technical confidence needed to protect asset value and engage credibly in strategic license decisions.