The President of the PKN ORLEN Management Board met with Vladis Dombrovskis, Prime Minister of Latvia, who visited the Ocean Nomad rig operating on a licence owned by Balin Energy, a joint venture of PKN ORLEN (through ORLEN International Exploration and Production Company B.V) and Kuwait Energy Company Netherlands Cooperatief.
Last Sunday, contractor Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc commenced drilling of the first exploration well within the Latvian economic zone of the Baltic Sea. At present, the well, which will reach a total depth of 1,500 metres below sea level, is 525 metres deep. As part of the current drilling work, the company intends to collect and analyse samples in order to determine the field’s potential. The first results are expected as early as in Q3 2013. Once the tests are completed, Balin Energy will decide whether or not to continue drilling in the region.
Vladis Dombrovskis, the Latvian Prime Minister, Jacek Krawiec, President of PKN ORLEN, and Mohammad Alhowqal, Operating Director at Kuwait Energy, visited the Ocean Nomad deep-water rig.
The Prime Minister’s visit is proof that the exploration work carried out jointly with Kuwait Energy on the Latvian economic zone is also of paramount importance to Latvia’s economy. We are looking forward to the results of the drilling work and we hope that they will allow us to learn more about the potential of the licence area in which we operate, while providing an incentive for further work and, ultimately, production from the field, said Jacek Krawiec, President of the PKN ORLEN Management Board.
We are honoured to have hosted Prime Minister Dombrovskis on the Ocean Nomad drilling rig and to have shown him, first hand, progress on the drilling activity achieved to date. Following the completion of drilling, Kuwait Energy and its Joint Venture partners will assess the results with a view to announcing its preliminary findings during the third quarter, commented Sara Akbar, Chief Executive Officer of Kuwait Energy.
The drilling on the Baltic Sea licence took place 132 metres below sea level and will continue for approximately 40 days. The two licence blocks within the Latvian waters near the country's Swedish border, which are covered by thirty-year exploration licences, span a total area of 1,664 square kilometres.
To date, Balin Energy has acquired and interpreted over 300 square kilometres of 3D seismic, and has performed a thorough survey of the sea bed and analysed the quality of its environmental parameters. The results helped determine the target location for the drilling equipment and prompted the decision to start drilling. The work is being carried out by a subsidiary of Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. under the supervision of a consultancy, Senergy. There is evidence of commercially recoverable oil and gas deposits in the Baltic Sea basin in the proximity of producing fields, both onshore and offshore, including in the Latvian town of Kuldīga.
PKN ORLEN