Total makes oil discovery offshore Bulgaria

French oil company Total has made an oil discovery in the Khan Asparuh license, located in the Black Sea offshore Bulgaria.

In its 3Q 2016 report on Friday, the oil company said it made the discovery in the Black Sea during the quarter thus opening a new play.

Noble Corp.’s 2013-built Globetrotter Class drillship, Noble Globetrotter II, carried out the exploratory drilling for Total in the Khan Asparuh block. The drillship headed to its drilling location off Bulgaria in late April this year and was set to start drilling in May.

Total’s first well in the Black Sea, named Polshkov-1, is located about 128 kilometers offshore Bulgaria, and the exploration campaign lasted for four months.

The French company and the Bulgarian authorities signed the exploration contract for the offshore Khan Asparuh license in August 2012. The 14,220-sq. km block is situated 80 kilometers offshore in the Black Sea in water depths between 100 and 2,000 meters. The commitment is to drill two exploration wells.

Total is the operator of the block with 40% interest and its partners are Austria’s OMV with 30%, and Spain’s Repsol with 30% stake.

Also on Friday, Total posted a 25 percent decrease in its third quarter 2016 adjusted net profit, compared with the same quarter last year while its production grew by over 4 percent.

Offshore Energy Today Staff