Drilling has kicked off at a North Sea exploration well operated by Italian oil and gas firm Eni, supported by French partner Total.
The drill bit started spinning on October 14, according to the Oil and Gas Authority’s wellbore search portal.
Offshore rig contractor Valaris’ Ensco 101 rig is being used for the job in the southern North Sea.
Eni, headquartered in Milan, holds a 60% working interest in the licence containing Aspen.
Paris-headquartered energy giant Total owns the remaining 40% of the acreage.
Eni will be hoping Aspen brings more success than was the case with its exploration well on the Rowallan field in the central North Sea.
The firm and its partners were targeting 20-60 million barrels of oil equivalent from Rowallan.
Drilling on the well commenced at the end of last year. Disappointingly, partner Serica Energy revealed in April that Rowallan was “not found to be hydrocarbon bearing”.
