Norway-based Engie E&P Norge has spudded the exploration well PL 636 Cara in the northern North Sea.
The Cara well is located 35km from shore and around 6km from Gjøa field in water depths of about 350m. It is regarded a standard exploration well of conventional design with a four-string casing programme.
Drilling will be carried out using the Transocean Arctic rig by Transocean Norway Operations.
Transocean is a harsh environment midwater semi-submersible drilling rig.
The company will carry out drilling for about 41 days and in case of discovery, a drill stem test is planned to be performed for an additional 25 days to assess the reservoir size.
Engie E&P Norge managing director Cedric Osterrieth said: "In case of a commercial discovery, Cara is a potential tie-back to the Gjøa-platform, which we operate.
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By GlobalData“The results from Cara will increase our understanding of the Gjøa area, which is one of our core areas on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.”
PL 636 is operated by Engie E&P Norge with a 30% interest. Other partners are Idemitsu Petroleum (30%), Tullow Oil Norge (20%) and Wellesley Petroleum (20%).
Last month, Engie E&P Norge increased the gas production on Gjøa by 17.5%.
Net production from the field last year stood at 12.6 million barrels of oil equivalent.
Image: Drilling operation at PL 636 well will be carried out using the Transocean Arctic rig. Photo: © Copyright ENGIE E&P Norge.