Neptune Energy announced that it has discovered oil and gas at the Hamlet exploration wells (PL153) in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.

Estimates of the discovered volumes in place at Hamlet indicate that it is in the range of 5-11 million standard cubic meters (mmscm) or 30-70 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe).

The company said that it is resuming work to identify the potential recoverable resources, while Neptune’s preliminary estimate is 8-24 mmboe.

Hamlet is located in the Gjøa area, where Neptune already operates two fields. The Wintershall Dea-operated fields Vega and Nova which are also tied back to the Gjøa platform.

On this occasion, Neptune Energy’s Managing Director for Norway and the UK, Odin Estensen, said: “This discovery is in line with Neptune’s strategy to focus on exploration around existing hubs, enabling us to fast-track development, and to keep costs down and carbon emissions low. A potential field development would build on our experiences from recent successful developments of the Duva field and Gjøa P1 segment.”

Also, Neptune Energy’s Director of Exploration & Development in Norway, Steinar Meland, added: “The Hamlet exploration well confirms the extended potential of the Agat play, previously only developed and produced in the Neptune-operated Duva Field. Neptune plans to drill a further exploration well, the Ofelia prospect, in the same play later this year.”