Lundin Petroleum AB said July 21 it commenced its exploration and appraisal campaign for three wells in the Loppa High area in the southern Barents Sea off the coasts of Norway and Russia.

The campaign includes re-entry of the Alta-3 appraisal well and then the suspended Neiden exploration well, and also drilling a new exploration well targeting the Filicudi prospect.

The Alta-3 well was successfully drilled in 2015 on the eastern flank of the Alta discovery and encountered a gross hydrocarbon column of 120 m (394 ft). The objective of re-entry is to deepen the well to further assess the quality of the Permian carbonate reservoir section and to conduct a production test.

The Alta discovery is estimated to contain gross contingent resources of between 125 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) and 400 MMboe. All three Alta wells drilled to date have proven pressure communication, the release said.

The Neiden well was partially drilled in 2015, but was suspended immediately above prognosed reservoir section due to winter restrictions. The Neiden prospect is estimated to contain gross unrisked prospective resources of 204 MMboe.

The third well to be drilled in the campaign is in the Filicudi prospect located northwest of the Alta Discovery and south of the Statoil ASA (NYSE: STO) operated Johan Castberg discovery.

The Filicudi prospect is expected to contain Jurassic sandstone reservoir analogous to the Johan Castberg discovery. The prospect is also estimated to contain gross unrisked prospective resources of 258 MMboe.

The Alta-3 well and Neiden well are located in the PL609 license, in which Lundin holds a 40% interest. The Filicudi prospect is located in the PL533 license where Lundin holds 35% working interest. Lundin is the operator in both licenses.

The Leiv Eiriksson drilling rig has been contracted for the three well slots with an additional six optional well slots.