The Discoverer Americas drillship. (Photo: Transocean)
The exploration well targeted the Kiwi prospect in the El Dabaa licence, located in the Mediterranean west of the Nile Delta, with a water depth of around 2,700 metres at the drill site.
Extensive logging has been performed in the well, and preliminary results show that the well is dry.
The offshore operations were completed safely and the results of the well will now be further evaluated and integrated into the understanding of the area before any new decisions about the acreage are made.
Statoil is the operator and holds 80% equity in the licence. Sonatrach International Petroleum E&P, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Algerian state oil and gas company, holds the remaining 20%.
In 2007 Statoil signed two deepwater concession agreements – El Dabaa and Ras El Hekma – which cover areas of 8,368 and 9,802 square kilometres, respectively.