Dana Petroleum has started drilling operations on its Western Isles Development Project two months ahead of schedule.

The work is being undertaken by the drilling rig Ocean Nomad, leased from Diamond Offshore, in the Northern North Sea.

Western Isles is a $1.6 billion development project which is exploiting two discovered oil fields, called Harris and Barra, located 160km east of the Shetlands and 12km west of the Tern field.

The nine-well development is expected to produce more than 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent, adding more than 30,000 barrels (net) to Dana’s daily production when it comes onstream in 2015.

Paul Griffin, Dana’s UK managing director, said, “Beginning drilling two months ahead of schedule is another very important milestone for the Western Isles Project and Dana. Western Isles is a key project for our future growth ambitions as we aim to significantly grow our production.”

About Dana Petroleum plc
Dana Petroleum plc, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC), is an international oil and gas business with operations in the UK, Egypt, Norway, the Netherlands and Africa, producing 60,000 barrels of oil a day. Dana’s ambition is to become a leading international oil and gas company operating in Europe, Africa and the Middle East and aims to grow production significantly by investing up to $5 billion over the next five years to increase the size of the company and create value for our shareholder.

About Dana Petroleum UK
Our portfolio in the UK consists of exploration, production and development activities throughout the Northern, Central and Southern North Sea, West of Shetland, and in the Moray Firth. We hold a total of 20 operated and 35 non-operated licences acquired through successful licensing rounds, acquisitions and asset farm-ins. Our average annual production in 2012 was 33,000 barrels of oil per day. Our strategy is to continue to invest in our UK exploration portfolio and convert exploration prospects into reserves and production.

About the Western Isles Project
The Western Isles Project (Dana 77% and Cieco 23%) will develop two discovered oil fields called Harris and Barra in the Northern North Sea, 160km east of the Shetlands and 12km west of Tern field. It involves a subsea development of at least five production and four water injection wells plus two exploration wells tied back to a new build floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) with oil export using shuttle tankers.
Drilling has now started with subsea installation in summer 2014 and FPSO installation summer 2015. First oil is expected in 2015 and the estimated field life is 15 years.