Aberdeen-based Faroe Petroleum said today it had lined up a busy drilling programme after recent success at its first operated exploration well.
The firm said it aimed to drill five exploration and appraisal wells per year in the next three years.
It comes after the company said it had discovered oil in the Fulla prospect west of Shetland last month with a better-than-expected reservoir quality.
Faroe, which is involved in projects in the Atlantic Margin and in both the UK and Norwegian sectors of the North Sea, had suffered a setback earlier this year when the deep-sea Lagavulin well west of Shetland was abandoned.
Faroe had a 10% stake in the licence, but the project over-ran to an estimated £176million and the well was plugged with the company saying it was not commercially viable.
The firm said yesterday that the failed well had “significantly advanced” its understanding of the geology in the area however, and opened up the possibility of high-potential plays in the Atlantic Margin.
Faroe chief executive Graham Stewart said that the Fulla project was an “important new discovery” for the firm after the disappointment of Lagavulin.
The company said that before the end of this year it would drill three wells in Norwegian waters at Butch, Kalvklumpen and T-Rex, and would drill its first operated well in Norway next year.
Mr Stewart said: “Faroe has an exciting drilling programme ahead with up to five material exploration and appraisal wells per annum targeted over the next three years alone.
“Following our successfully-operated Fulla discovery west of Shetland, we are preparing for drilling on our first operated exploration well in Norway in early 2012, which will target the exciting Clapton prospect in the North Sea.”
Faroe has a 40% stake in the Clapton licence, which lies close to the large Ekofisk, Valhall and Eldfisk fields.
Faroe also published its interim results for the first six months of 2011 yesterday, which revealed that while revenue quadrupled year-on-year the firm’s losses also widened.
Revenue in the six months to June 30, 2011 was £40.1million, compared with £9.2million in the previous year.
Pre-tax losses were £24million in the first half of this year, up from losses of £3.8million during the same time in 2010. The company’s exploration and evaluation expenses were more than 10 times higher in the latest period, up to £25.9million from £2.5million.