Faroe Petroleum plc (LON:FPM) has agreed on a deal to take a stake in the Agar Plantain exploration and appraisal well.
The project, located close to the boundary between UK and Norwegian waters, is being operated by Azinor Catalyst and is due to start later this month.
It kicks off with an exploration well to test the Plantain prospect, followed by an appraisal side-track to assess the Agar reservoir (discovered in 2014).
READ: Faroe Petroleum looks forward to more drilling
"We are pleased to announce the Agar Plantain farm-in, targeting two oil prospects, adding the seventh well to our ongoing committed exploration and appraisal programme and further increasing the near-term upside potential in our growing asset base,” said Graham Stewart, Faroe chief executive.
“We look forward to working with Catalyst, as operator, to unlock the potential of the Agar Plantain prospect.”
Overall, the operator sees a 60mln barrels of combined resources –although the upside case is estimated at 98mln barrels of oil equivalent.
Gross well costs are estimated at US$15mln and Faroe will take a 25% stake in the well (and 12.5% in the wider P1763 Licence area). Catalyst is the operator with a 25%, while Cairn Energy PLC (LON:CNE) holds the other 50% of the well.
A good opportunity
Stewart added: "Faroe's UK exploration strategy is to pursue on a highly selective basis suitable opportunities, located close to existing infrastructure offering potential for early exploitation through subsea tie-back.
“The Agar Plantain well represents a good opportunity to leverage our extensive Norwegian exploration expertise and track record onto the UKCS, and in a cost-effective manner, taking advantage of continuing low rig rates.
“This farm-in follows on from our award of UKCS Block 30/14b in the UK 30th Licencing Round announced in May, containing the high impact prospect Edinburgh (Faroe 100%) which straddles the UK/Norwegian median line."