Maersk Oil Norway AS has spudded an exploratory well on the Albert prospect in PL 513 in the Haltenbanken area of the Norwegian Sea offshore Norway.
Dana Petroleum PLC has a 50% interest in the license that contains Albert, a Cretaceous Lysing gas-condensate prospect to be drilled to 3,500 m. The rig is the Transocean Barents semisubmersible. Albert is just northwest of Victoria, one of the largest gas discoveries on the Norwegian Continental Shelf not yet developed.
The Albert well is last in Dana’s four-well 2012 drilling campaign in Norway for 2012. Albert will test the same reservoir types that have proven hydrocarbons in adjacent Skarv, Marulk, and Snadd fields. A discovery at Albert would also open up for further investigation several adjacent prospects in neighboring licenses held by Dana, the company said.