The Borgland Dolphin drilling rig is drilling an exploration well for Statoil south of the Gullfaks satellite Gullveig in the Tampen area of the North Sea.
Well 33/12-8S is being drilled in production licence 152, which lies in the Dole structure about four kilometres south of the Gullveig field. If a find is made, a sidetrack to the south into the neighbouring Ole structure may be an option, reports Eirik Graue, project manager for the drilling.
The purpose of the well is to prove hydrocarbons in the Brent and Statfjord reservoirs; the former lies 2,600 metres below the seabed while the latter lies 600 metres deeper.
Plans call for drilling to be completed by the beginning of May. Statoil’s exploration programme in the area includes a well in a structure named N7-Dolly, about four kilometres north of Gullveig. Plans call for this well to be drilled in late autumn.