Cairn Energy PLC (LON:CNE) boss Simon Thomson says the company is set for an “eventful” year, with drilling continuing in Senegal and new production in the North Sea.
“We will shortly embark on further exploration and appraisal drilling in Senegal and we continue to work towards first oil and cashflow from our North Sea assets,” Thomson said.
He added: “Cairn is fully-funded in respect of all of our capital commitments and we continue to actively assess and pursue new ventures within the context of a balanced portfolio."
Drilling is to restart in Senegal later this month, with the SNE-5 and SNE-6 appraisal wells, aiming to refine the understanding or the resource area and confirm important data points for the planning of a future field development.
Two wells are already contracted on the Stena DrillMAX drillship, as well as multiple follow-on options.
Meanwhile in the North Sea the group is advancing the Catcher and Kraken developments, due for first oil in 2017. Those projects are set to deliver net production of around 25,000 barrels of oil per day.