Oil and gas company Neptune Energy has started drilling on the Dugong Tail exploration well in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.
Neptune Energy is using the Deepsea Yantai semi-submersible rig for the operation. The same rig was used for the Dugong well last year, where Neptune made one of Norway's largest discoveries of 2020.
The rig is owned by China's CIMC and operated by the Norwegian drilling contractor Odfjell Drilling.
Commenting on the drilling start-up, Neptune Energy’s Director of Exploration & Development in Norway, Steinar Meland, said: “Dugong Tail represents an important geophysical calibration point for the [Dugong Production Licence (882)], with the potential to unlock further prospectivity in the region.
The Dugong Tail well location is situated 120 kilometers west of Florø, Norway, at a water depth of 320 meters, and is close to the existing production facilities of the Snorre field. The reservoir lies at a depth of 3,200 - 3,500 meters.
Neptune Energy, which operates the project on behalf of its partners Petrolia NOCO, Idemitsu, and Concedo, said the drilling program includes a main bore with the potential sidetracks if hydrocarbons are discovered.
As for the Dugong discovery made last year, Neptune said it had recently completed a Drill Stem Test (DST), and results are now under evaluation.
Neptune in August last year said that the Dugong volumes were estimated to be in the range of 6.3 – 19.0 million standard cubic meters (MSm3) of recoverable oil equivalent, or 40 – 120 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe).