The boss at North Sea newcomer Decipher Energy has confirmed that a well will be drilled on its Orlando licence in the near future.
Steve Bowyer said Diamond Offshore Drilling’s Ocean Guardian rig would drill a development well on the field, north-east of Shetland.
Aberdeen-based Decipher obtained stakes in Orlando last year when it bought out Iona Energy.
Iona, which held a 75% stake in the asset, went bust in 2016 following a failed attempt to restructure its finances.
Previously, Bridge Petroleum had an agreement to buy Iona, but it had to pull the plug on the deal when its funding fell through, allowing Decipher to swoop.
Decipher later clinched a deal to buy Atlantic Petroleum’s 25% stake in Orlando.
Diamond Offshore’s most recent fleet report shows Ocean Guardian has been booked to drill the well between February and May 2018.
In April 2017, Mr Bowyer said Decipher had revived a plan to export oil from Orlando through the Ninian Central platform, owned by CNR International.
At the time, Mr Bowyer said he was targeting first oil in 2018.
Estimates from Iona suggested the field could produce 14,000 barrels of oil per day.
Mr Bowyer used to be an executive at First Oil, which was placed in voluntary administration in 2016. First Oil had been controlled by multimillionaire businessman Ian Suttie.
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