Statoil spins drill bit at Roald Rygg (Norway)

Atlantic Petroleum has announced that drilling of the Roald Rygg well 6706/12-3, in PL602, in the Norwegian Sea started on March 22, 2015 with the Transocean Spitsbergen rig.

The well 6706/12-3 is planned to drill to a total depth of around 3420 m TVD and operations are anticipated to take 35 days. The Nise Formation is the main target for the well, while the Kvitnos Formation represents the secondary target.

The Roald Rygg Prospect is located immediately next to the Snefrid North discovery (6706/12-2) recently drilled by PL218 where gas (105 m) and oil (4 m) were found in the Nise Formation.

In addition to Roald Rygg the PL602 license contains several other prospects and leads with significant follow up potential, Atlantic Petroleum said. The license is located adjacent to the Statoil-operated Aasta Hansteen field development which is due to come on stream in 2017.

Statoil recently announced the acquisition of 10% interest in the licence from Rocksource and 2.5% interest from Atlantic Petroleum. The partnership now consist of Statoil 42.5% (operator), Centrica 20%, Petoro 20%, Wintershall 10% and Atlantic Petroleum Norge 7.5%.

Ben Arabo, CEO, stated: “We are very pleased to see the spud of the Roald Rygg well shortly after completing a deal with Statoil on the licence.With the development of new gas infrastructure in the Aasta Hansteen area, this is an attractive area for gas discoveries.

“Furthermore, the recent discovery of an oil leg below the gas cap in the neighboring Snefrid North licence has a larger positive impact for Atlantic Petroleum as the company has, over the past years, secured significant acreage in this part of the Norwegian Sea represented by ownership in PL528/B, PL602, PL704, PL705, PL763 and PL802. It has always been our belief that in addition to good gas prospectivity there is oil in the area and the Snefrid North discovery proves this to be correct.”

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