Oil and gas firm Sterling Resources said today it was about to start a two-well drilling programme offshore Romania.
Success on the first well, on the Ioana gas prospect, could “greatly enhance” the potential for a gas hub in Sterling’s Midia block in the Romanian Black Sea, the firm added.
The block already contains two gas discoveries, Ana and Doina, both drilled on by Sterling and thought to contain 345billion cubic feet of contingent resources.
Drilling on Ioana is being carried out by the GSP Jupiter jack-up rig.
The next well, Eugenia-1, will test what Sterling called the oil-prone Pelican block.
“We are excited to resume our drilling programme in the Romanian Black Sea, with the arrival of the GSP Jupiter rig at the Ioana-1 drill site,” said Mark Beacom, Sterling’s vice-president and general manager for Romania.
He added: “Success at Ioana could greatly enhance the potential for a gas hub in the Midia block that already includes the Ana and Doina fields.
“The second well, Eugenia-1, will be the first to be drilled in the highly prospective, oil prone Pelican block, which has existing hydrocarbon discoveries to the west and east.”
Midia Resources, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sterling, is the operator of the Midia and Pelican blocks.
Approved joint venture partners are Petro Ventures Europe (20%) and Gas Plus International (15%).
The Ioana-1 well, which is located in a water depth of nearly 300 feet, is targeting the Mid Pontian sandstone formation to a total well depth of 5,250ft and is expected to take up to 30 days to complete.
Following the drilling of Ioana-1, the rig will be remobilised approximately 43miles to the north for the drilling of the Eugenia-1 well in oil prone Block 13 Pelican, in 180ft water depth to an anticipated total depth of 7,546ft.