Statoil spudded its first Venezuelan wildcat, the Ballena 1-X well, on Jan. 1, 2005, using theSovereign Explorer. The rig is drilling in the Plataforma Deltana area on block 4.
The Ballena 1-X is the first of three wells that the group is committed to drilling in this region off the eastern coast. If it proves successful, Statoil is considering drilling one to three appraisal wells before a possible field could be declared commercial.
The group is the sole licensee for block 4, which was awarded in February 2003 and covers about 1,435 sq km with water depths of 200-800 m.
1/5/05
