RWE Dea’s Norwegian subsidiary RWE Dea Norge AS has signed an agreement with Dolphin Drilling AS to use the Bredford Dolphin rig, in cooperation with three other oil companies.

For RWE Dea Norge, the contract entails full rig capacity in the years ahead for a planned drilling program in production license 420 in the Norwegian North Sea. The company is the operator and holds 30% interest in the license, containing the Titan discovery.

Bredford Dolphin will be used to drill an appraisal well on Titan toward the end of 2013 to confirm the size of the discovery. RWE previously drilled a well on the field, after which it made a preliminary estimate of 12 MMcm of recoverable oil equivalent.

The company is also planning another exploration well in early 2014 in the same license using the Leiv Eiriksson drilling rig. RWE Dea is optimistic that the license will gain significant value.

“The year ahead will be very active for RWE Dea Norge. As well as drilling two wells at Titan, we’re also going ahead with an exploration well at our PL330 license in the Norwegian Sea, as well as taking important steps in the development of the Zidane field,” said Hans-Joachim Polk, managing director of RWE Dea Norge.

The rig agreement with Dolphin has been concluded with Lundin, Noreco, and Repsol, and is coordinated by AGR. The contract is for a total of eight wells over a period of 570 days, with the option of an extension and a minimum of five further wells.