A new sidetrack being drilled by Statoil in a Norwegian Sea exploration well will take one-two weeks to produce any results.
This means that nothing can be said until then about the type or volumes of hydrocarbons found by the well, which is being drilled by Byford Dolphin in block 6507/3 south of Statoil's Norne field.
Spudded around the New Year, the well has so far yielded gas in three zones along its vertical section. A horizontal sidetrack was then drilled and the logs from this work are now being analysed.
The structure being drilled in 392 metres of water is called C-Fangst.
"We're drilling a new sidetrack to get more information about the lower part of the reservoir," explains Yngve Vassmyr, who heads the Statoil exploration office at Harstad in northern Norway.
Partners in production licence 159 are operator Statoil with 30 per cent, the state's direct financial interest 20 per cent, Enterprise Oil 40 per cent Saga Petroleum 10 per cent.