By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Sept. 21 -- Statoil ASA plans to drill three additional exploration wells during 2006-07 in the Halten Bank area south of Aasgard oil and gas field after no mobile hydrocarbons were found with its Antares wildcat well drilled in production license 314 in the Norwegian Sea.
Wildcat 6406/3-7 was drilled to a TD of 4,502 m subsea with Smedvig ASA's West Alpha semisubmersible in 275 m of water. The well terminated in early Jurassic sediments and has been plugged and abandoned.
The planned exploration wells will be drilled "in quick succession and will be important for clarifying the potential of the area," said Tim Dodson, Statoil's senior vice-president for exploration on the Norwegian continental shelf.
These wells will be in a different geological area from Antares, which therefore has no bearing on the probability of discoveries or the estimated resources the wells might contain.
PL 314 interest owners are Statoil 45%, Norsk Hydro ASA 35%, and ExxonMobil Corp. 20%.
West Alpha is now due to spud an exploration well in PL 255, which is operated by Royal Dutch Shell PLC.
