Statoil failed to find hydrocarbons in latest Halten Bank well, but will resume exploration in the area
Offshore staff
(Stavanger) Statoil's latest exploration probe in the Norwegian Sea was a disappointment. The semisubmersibleWest Alpha was targeting oil and gas in Jurassic sands in the Antares prospect in production license 314, but found no hydrocarbons.
Tim Dodson, the company's senior vice-president for Norwegian shelf exploration, was not too downcast, saying the exercise had helped Statoil clarify potential in this part of the Halten Bank. The company plans to drill three further prospects in the area, which lies south of its Aasgard field, all located in different geological horizons from Antares.
