North Sea appraisal well on the horizon for Neptune

Oil and gas company Neptune Energy is preparing to drill an appraisal well located in the North Sea offshore Norway.

Namely, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has granted Neptune Energy a drilling permit for well 35/9-16 A. The well is located in production licence 153, which has been granted in 1988 and is valid until 2028.

Neptune Energy is the operator of the licence with a 30 per cent interest while its partners Petoro, Wintershall Dea, and OKEA hold 30 per cent, 28 per cent, and 12 per cent, respectively.

The well is expected to be drilled in April 2022, using the Deepsea Yantai semi-submersible rig, which is owned by China’s CIMC and managed by the Norwegian drilling contractor Odfjell Drilling.

Earlier this year, the company also secured a permit for another appraisal well on the same production licence, the 35/9-16 S, which was also supposed to be drilled using the same rig.

The Deepsea Yantai rig has been working for Neptune Energy in Norway since November 2019. Two years later, in November 2021, Neptune extended the rig’s contract to include three additional wells in the Norwegian North Sea in 2022.

Also in the North Sea, Neptune revealed on Friday it would double its gas production from the Duva field, supporting increased supplies to the UK and Europe amid growing energy security concerns.

Duva is a subsea installation with three oil producers and one gas producer tied back to the Neptune Energy-operated Gjøa semi-submersible platform. The gas is transported by pipeline to the UK’s St Fergus gas terminal.