Spudding an offshore deepwater well requires $100 million to $150 million, according to available information.
“Drilling at the Helena-1X well in Est Rapsodia block is still in progress. Lukoil is planning to spud two more wells in 2015, this time in the Trident offshore block,” Lukoil Overseas officials said.
The drilling of the first Lukoil exploration well in the Black Sea, Helena-1X started in early November 2014 and should provide information about potential hydrocarbon reserves 4,000 meters deep.
Lukoil spent $189 million on exploration and production activities in Romania last year, 27 times more than in 2013, the group said, as it considers Romania a promising area besides Iraq, the Caspian region and Uzbekistan.
The company’s two blocks, Est Rapsodia and Trident, are right next to the deepwater area of the Neptun block currently drilled by OMV Petrom (SNP.RO) and ExxonMobil. The two have already found a natural gas deposit of 42 to 84 billion cubic meters there, enough to keep Romania supplied for five years.
Helena-1X is the fourth exploration well drilled in the deepwater area of the Black Sea. Petrom and ExxonMobil drilled the other three, named Domino-1, Domino-2 and Pelican South-1.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)