OREANDA-NEWS. May 12, 2012. Statoil ASA, together with partners Eni Norge AS and Petoro AS, has established a plan for further exploration drilling in the Skrugard area. The exploration campaign will comprise four new prospects and is scheduled to commence late 2012.

The objective is to follow up on the Skrugard and Havis discoveries and to test further upside potential in this area of the Barents Sea, including production licences PL532 and PL608.

“We are very satisfied with our recent exploration achievements in the Barents Sea. In less than a year, we have made two substantial oil discoveries in PL532, proving 400-600 million barrels of recoverable oil. We have also drilled a successful appraisal well on Skrugard confirming volume estimates and collecting data for field development planning,” says Knut Harald Nygеrd, Statoil vice president for exploration in the Skrugard area.

“We see good opportunities for further upside in the area, and have identified four new interesting prospects. In some of these we have observed flat spots of the same type as in the Skrugard and Havis discoveries.”

The four prospects will be drilled back to back with the West Hercules drilling rig, which will be winterised to meet the weather conditions in the Barents Sea.

The drilling campaign will start in PL532 with the Nunatak prospect due to be spud in December this year. Then the rig will proceed to the Skavl prospect located in the same licence, and thereafter to the Iskrystall prospect in the neighbouring licence PL608. The fourth prospect to be drilled will be announced at a later stage.

Statoil’s ambition is to complete drilling of all four prospects by late spring/early summer 2013.

“With the Skrugard and Havis discoveries, we are establishing a new strategic hub in the northernmost part of the Norwegian continental shelf. Proving additional volumes in the area would make the development even more robust,” says Erik Strand Tellefsen, Statoil vice president for Skrugard field development.

Statoil is operator for production licences PL532 and PL608 with an ownership share of 50% in each. The licence partners in both licences are Eni Norge AS (30%) and Petoro AS (20%).