Drilling of the Hagar exploration well

_{21 August 2015 - 15:51 CEST}

Repsol Norge AS is entering an exciting period as the Hagar exploration well located in the Norwegian Sea was spudded on August 21st.

Repsol has developed a strong acreage position in the Norwegian Sea. This will be tested over the next few years starting with the Hagar prospect in an exciting area where recent discoveries have been made.

We received consent from Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority in May 2015 to drill the exploration well.

The main purpose of the well is to examine the potential for hydrocarbons in the Rogn & Melke Formation. The well was spudded on August 21st and is projected to last approximately 64-78 days, depending on whether a discovery is made.

“The procedures and personnel are in place in order to, first, operate under the safest conditions, and, second, gather the highest quality subsurface information in order to best analyze our prospect”, says  Erik Syrdalen, Exploration Manager for Repsol Norge AS.

The license is located to the South of the prolific Halten Terrace area in the Norwegian Sea, 70 km southwest of Draugen oil field, 50 km southwest of Njord oil and gas field and 30 km south of the newly discovered Pil and Bue discoveries of 2014. The well uses a Bredford Dolphin, a semi-submersible, Aker H-3 type drilling rig. The rig was built in 1976, and underwent a major upgrade in 2007.

“Since the drill decision was made in February 2014, we have been actively working on the Hagar well drilling campaign preparations to ensure a successful operation that is incident and accident free. In order to do so, a multidisciplinary team encompassing drilling, geological operations, exploration, HSE and Procurement & Contracts has been working together during the past year to make sure everything is in place according to schedule”, says Erik Syrdalen.

Repsol Norge AS is the operator of the license 642 in the Norwegian Sea with a 40% share. The other partners are: OMV (Norge) AS (20%), Petoro AS (20%) and Tullow Oil Norge AS ( 20%).