September 25 (SeeNews) - Total E&P Bulgaria, a unit of France's oil and gas group Total, has announced the start of the second deepwater drilling in Bulgarian offshore block 1-21 Han Asparuh in the Black Sea.
The drilling works which will provide additional data for the hydrocarbon potential of the block are expected to be completed at the beginning of 2018, the company said in a statement on Saturday.
The second drilling is located approximately 90 km from the nearest coastline and 14 km northeast of the first drilling.
The 1-21 Han Asparuh block is located deep offshore in the Bulgarian sector in the western part of the Black Sea and covers an area of 14,220 sq km with water depths up to 2,200 m.
In April, the Bulgarian government said it had extended by 135 days the permit held by Total, Austria’s OMV and Spain’s Repsol to explore for oil and natural gas at the 1-21 Han Asparuh block.
In October 2016, Total said it had discovered oil in the 1-21 Han Asparuh block.
In May 2016, Total, alongside OMV and Repsol, started drilling for oil and gas in the 1-21 Han Asparuh block. Total has a 40% interest in the project, while OMV and Repsol own stakes of 30% each.
In January 2014, the three companies completed a 210-day 3D seismic survey, covering 7,740 sq km. It came after a 2D seismic survey of 3,000 km, which was completed in October 2013. However, in December 2014, the consortium decided to delay drilling at the block due to the slump in global oil prices.
Total won a permit for prospecting and exploration of oil and gas in the 1-21 Han Asparuh block in 2012. Under the terms of the contract, Total committed to invest over 1.0 billion euro ($1.19 billion) in the gas exploration process, while Bulgaria would receive 40 million euro in the form of a bonus payments from the deal, the economy ministry said at the time.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)