Dana Petroleum Plc (LON:DNX), the FTSE 250 oil and gas group, has reported successful appraisal drilling of the Blackbird oil field in the UK Central North Sea. The 20/2a-9 well, operated by Canadian oil group Nexen (TSX: NXY, NYSE: NXY), was drilled in a water depth of approximately 367 feet to a total measured depth of 12,000 feet, targeting a high quality Upper Jurassic oil discovery. The well encountered approximately 330 vertical feet of gross oil bearing section and an extensive set of wireline log data is being acquired over the reservoir section, following drilling and coring. Preliminary log analysis indicates approximately 75 feet total thickness of good quality oil bearing reservoir sands.

Dana said the logs and cores were in the process of being fully analysed but that the well would now be completed and flow tested. It will then be suspended for future use as an oil producer, through a potential future tie back to the Ettrick FPSO. Nexen holds a 79.73% stake in Ettrick, with Dana holding 12% and Atlantic Petroleum holding 8.27%.

When Dana acquired Bow Valley Energy in April 2009, the company’s technical team identified a number of upside opportunities beyond the initial four producing oil fields. In August 2009 a fifth oil field, Ettrick, was successfully brought on stream through an FPSO development and has been producing at rates of up to 22,000 barrels of oil per day. The Ettrick joint venture group has now proceeded to appraise the Blackbird oil discovery successfully, within the same licence area as Ettrick. The appraisal well has encountered a substantial oil column at Blackbird which has proven up additional oil reserves that are expected to be produced efficiently across the existing Ettrick facilities in due course.

Tom Cross, Dana's chief executive, said: “In the first half of 2010, Dana drilled 10 exploration wells making five oil and gas discoveries. In the second half of 2010, Dana's intensive drilling programme includes a further 10 exploration and appraisal wells, targeting additional oil and gas reserves in proven hydrocarbon basins. Blackbird is the first of these wells and the next three are already drilling in the UK, Netherlands and Egypt. In addition to this current drilling, Dana's two largest 2010 targets at Anne Marie in the Faroes and Cormoran in Mauritania, will spud in July and September respectively.”

In late June, Dana…

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