Senegal: Drilling results

Cairn Energy has spudded the third well in its appraisal programme for the SNE field. The BEL-1 well is being drilled by the Ocean Rig Athena drillship to a total depth of 2,757 metres in water depths of 1,100 metres. Partner FAR said the well would appraise the SNE field and test the Bellatrix exploration prospect, evaluating the untested Buried Hills play. BEL-1 will be deepened to appraise the northern portion of the SNE oil field. The aim of the appraisal programme is to prove a minimum economic field size for the SNE discovery, which FAR estimates to be approximately 200m barrels of oil.