Austrian oil and gas company OMV has started drilling operations on the Velocette exploration well in production license 1016, offshore Norway.
The news of the drilling start was shared Tuesday by Longboat Energy, a 20% partner in the offshore block.
Velocette is a gas-condensate prospect targeting Cretaceous Nise turbidite sands on the eastern flank of the Utgard High in the Norwegian Sea.
The prospect benefits from seismic amplitude anomalies indicative of gas-filled sands and is located within tieback distance from the Equinor-operated, producing Aasta Hansteen field (~45 km).
Velocette is estimated to contain gross unrisked mean resources of 177 mmboe (35 mmboe net to Longboat JAPEX Norge AS) with a geological chance of success of 30%.
According to Longboat Energy, a number of follow on opportunities exist within license PL1016 with aggregate gross unrisked mean resources of ~200* mmboe, which would be significantly de-risked by success in the Velocette well. The key risks associated with this prospect are reservoir presence and quality.
The licensing partnership consists of Longboat JAPEX Norge AS (20%), OMV Norge AS (40% operator) and INPEX Idemitsu Norge AS (40%).
Helge Hammer, Chief Executive of Longboat Energy, said: “We are excited to have commenced drilling the Velocette prospect which will be our ninth exploration well. Velocette is a gas-weighted opportunity targeting very significant prospective resources. The exploration well also has significant follow-on potential that will be derisked in the case of success.”
The Velocette well is being drilled using the Transocean Norge semi-submersible drilling rig in a water depth of about 475 meters.