The Ocean Rig Athena drill ship which is to be used for the appraisal and exploration drilling programme offshore Senegal has today began mobilization from Luanda, Angola.

The SNE discovery made in late 2014 is to be appraised with the first two wells in the three-well drilling program, PetroleumAfrica reports.

The three wells; two appraisal wells for SNE (SNE-2 and SNE- 3) plus one shelf exploration well (BEL-1) will be drilled, logged, cored and tested in a program expected to be completed by mid-2016.

Following the discoveries in the FAN-1 and SNE- 1 wells, the BEL-1 will be the first exploration well to be drilled in the blocks. It will be drilled into the Bellatrix Prospect and is aimed at establishing the resource base within tie-back range of a possible future hub development over the SNE field.

According to IHS CERA the SNE is the world’s largest oil discovery for 2014 and the aim of the appraisal program will be proving the threshold for economic field size. FAR estimates it to be about 200 million bbls for a foundation project.