Neptune Energy has begun drilling the Ofelia appraisal well on PL929 in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.
AGAT & KYRRE
The Ofelia discovery, made in August 2022, lies approximately 14km north of the Neptune-operated Gjøa field.
The company said that preliminary estimates of recoverable volume were 2.5 to 6.2 million standard cubic metres (MSm3) or 16 to 39 million barrels of oil equivalents (mmboe).
The appraisal well will evaluate the hydrocarbon discovery in the Ofelia Agat formation, and the secondary target of an upside of gas charged reservoir in the shallower Kyrre formation.
“The Ofelia discovery fits our strategy of focusing on opportunities within core areas near existing infrastructure,” said Neptune’s director of subsurface in Norway, Steinar Meland.
“The Ofelia discovery could be tied back to the Neptune-operated Gjøa platform and produce at less than half the average carbon intensity of Norwegian Continental Shelf fields.”
Neptune expects to reach the main reservoir target, the Lower Cretaceous Agat formation, at a depth of 2,530 metres.
The well, 35/6-4 S, is being drilled by the Deepsea Yantai semi-submersible rig, owned by CIMC and operated by Odfjell Drilling.
Project partners comprise Neptune (operator, 40%), Wintershall Dea (20%), Pandion Energy (20%), Aker BP (10%), and DNO (10%).