The two most recent wells on Statoil's Åsgard development in the Norwegian Sea have ended up 50 per cent cheaper than planned.
Originally due to take 27 days apiece, they were actually completed in 11 and 13 days from the Transocean Searcher drilling rig.
"This good result is due to a fine team which has worked very purposefully," says sector manager Øystein A Håland in the Åsgard project.
"Equipment faults caused major delays on earlier wells. These problems have now been eliminated. And another factor is that we haven't had to cope with winter storms."
Saving 24 days on two wells not only cuts development costs by roughly NOK 45 million but also lays the basis for NOK 35 million in revenues from earlier production.
A total of 57 wells were originally planned for Åsgard, but some of these are now expected to yield a poor return.
"As things stand at present, we look like drilling 54 wells," says Mr Håland. "But the ultimate number will change over the producing life of the field. It's likely to end up much higher."
He notes that new wells are constantly being drilled on other Norwegian producing fields. While the primary drilling programme on Statfjord was completed in 1986, for instance, operator Statoil is still drilling on the North Sea field.