The first exploration well on the Sarsfield prospect west of Ireland has been spudded by Statoil from Transocean’s Sovereign Explorer rig.
Expected to take about 52 days to complete, the well lies in the Porcupine basin about 170 kilometres off County Kerry and in 650 metres of water.
Doing the work on behalf of Statoil Exploration Ireland, Sovereign Explorer arrived off the Republic recently after completing an assignment in North African waters.
The Sarsfield well ranks as the first to be drilled by Statoil on the Irish continental shelf since 1997.
According to Egil Endresen, managing director of Statoil Exploration Ireland, the operation forms part of the group’s commitment to the Atlantic Margin.
Extending from west of Ireland to northern Norway, this area is one of the most important for Statoil’s international exploration operations.
Results from the well are expected in the autumn, once all the analyses have been completed.
Statoil Exploration Ireland has a 38 per cent interest in Sarsfield, with Conoco, Enterprise Energy Ireland and Dana as its partners.