Maersk Oil, the petroleum arm of Denmark’s AP Moller-Maersk, is to drill a new exploration well on the Maja licence in the Danish North Sea.
The move comes after the Danish Energy Agency (DEA) granted Maersk a two-year extension to two licences in the region.
The Maja licence is situated near the Maersk Oil-operated Harald gas field and 40 kilometres north of the licences operated by the Danish Underground Consortium. The well will be drilled in water depths of 50 metres and to a total depth of around 5,000 metres.
The well will target a high pressure high temperature (HPHT) prospect in the licence and will be drilled within the next two years following preparatory work. The well is expected to cost approximately $100 million, due to the requirement for specialised equipment and the time necessary to drill in technically challenging conditions.
Commenting on the news, Esbern Hoch, head of Exploration for Denmark, Greenland and the Middle East North Africa region, said: “We believe there is more oil and gas to be found in the Danish North Sea both in the maturely developed shallower levels and also in the less mature deeper geologic horizons. Teams that are pushing innovative new technology are behind this latest activity, continuing our exploration efforts in the Danish North Sea.”
He continued: “We will be committing not just substantial financial resources, but also a lot of people, time and technical expertise to this project. Maersk Oil has been developing its HPHT capabilities in recent years in both Denmark and the UK and we will be drawing on this experience.”
PA Resources withdrew from the Maja licence following its extension, granted by the DEA last week. PA Resources’ 26.8 per cent share in the licence has therefore been split proportionally among Maersk Oil and its other partners: Maersk Oil now holds a 42.62 per cent share in the licence with DONG Energy (27.32 per cent), Noreco (16.39 per cent) and Danoil (13.66 per cent) as partners.
The DEA has also extended Maersk Oil’s Gita licence for two years, which lies next to Maja. Maersk Oil is operator of Gita (31.2 per cent) with PA Resources (26.8 per cent), The North Sea Fund (20 per cent), Noreco (12 per cent) and Danoil (10 per cent) as partners.
Copenhagen-based Maersk Oil is an international oil and gas company with production of about 625,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day offshore Denmark, UK and Qatar, as well as onshore Kazakhstan. Exploration activities are ongoing in Angola, Brazil, Norway, the US Gulf of Mexico, Greenland and in producing countries
