Dana Petroleum said yesterday that since the start of the year it had completed drilling six exploration prospects which had resulted in three discoveries.
The Aberdeen-based oil and gas company’s second well on the West El Burullus concession, offshore the Nile Delta, Egypt, discovered about 75billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas at the Papyrus prospect, in line with pre-drill studies.
Following a previous gas discovery in the area, Dana said it was confident there were now sufficient reserves to progress discussions and studies in respect of developing the two discoveries in this concession.
Dana also said the Platypus well in the UK southern North Sea had found about 130bcf of gas, in line with pre-drill estimates, and it was undertaking technical work to fully evaluate the well results to commercialise the find.
The company estimates it has added 15-18million barrels of oil and gas resources, net to Dana, through exploration drilling to date in 2010.
It is also drilling further exploration wells, including at Bamboo, offshore the Nile Delta; at Monkwell, in the UK southern North Sea; at Lorcan-1x, onshore the Gulf of Suez, Egypt, and has identified 26 prospects and leads offshore Morocco in addition to its Anchois gas discovery there.
Dana said it expected to drill 18 wells in 2010, including the Blackbird appraisal well in the Ettrick oil area in the UK North Sea. Anne Marie, offshore the Faroe Islands, is expected to begin drilling next month.
In addition, it has secured a new-build semisubmersible Maersk rig to drill offshore Mauritania. The rig has been gained as part of a joint programme with Malaysia’s Petronas, which will drill in a neighbouring block.
Meanwhile, Providence Resources said it had up to 230million barrels of heavy oil in place underlying its Ardmore gas field, about 37 miles off the south coast of Ireland.
Tony O’Reilly, chief executive of the London and Dublin-listed Irish oil and gas exploration and production company, said: “Positive results from our recent work on the nearby Baltimore heavy-oil discovery led us to re-evaluate Ardmore for its heavy-oil potential.
“While further work needs to be carried out, we are encouraged by this review and as with our recently announced joint venture on Baltimore, we have agreed with the Ardmore partners to seek a heavy oil specialist to assess this discovery for potential future development.”
Providence has 72.5% and is operator of Ardmore. Partners are Atlantic Petroleum (18.3%) and Sosina Exploration (9.2%).