Sterling Resources Ltd. reports that drilling of the Ana-2 appraisal well in the Romanian Black Sea has commenced, and the Prometeu jackup spudded the well on August 28, 2008. Sterling holds a 65% working interest. It is anticipated that the well will take 30 days to drill and a further 15 days should testing be completed.
"This is an exciting appraisal well for Sterling in Offshore Romania," stated Stephen Birrell, Vice President (Romania) of Operations. "Following
our success in December 2007 with Ana-1 (previously referred to as Doina Sister), we return to drilling the Ana Gas Field to delineate the field with a 45 degree deviated appraisal well just under one kilometer northwest of the original Ana-1 discovery well. Success with this well will confirm our expectations for the field."
Planning for this appraisal well started soon after the successful testof the Ana-1 well with the introduction to the Romanian Black Sea of two technologies utilized from operations in the United Kingdom Southern North Sea: Mud-Line Suspension technology (MLS) for suspending wells and drilling templates for pre-drilling wells prior to development. Both of these technologies prepare the way for the Ana wells to be used during the development of the field. Sterling intends to use the Ana-2 well for potential production, again preserving the well for future development using the MLS technology, and then eventually access both the Ana-1 and Ana-2 wells from the same platform.
"Since moving onto the Ana location, we have been installing the drilling template, which precisely spaces the wells; and yesterday, we successfully installed the drilling conductor through the template, permitting the potential future use of both wells," noted John Rapach, Vice President of Operations for Sterling. "Setting of the template in 69 meters of water was certainly a first for the Romanian offshore oil and gas industry. This operation required tremendous effort from our operations team in Romania to prepare the rig and then run to the sea bed and position the template."
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