Jersey Oil & Gas has kick-started its North Sea drilling campaign.
The firm, which is focused on the UK Continental Shelf, is using the Transocean Spitsbergen to drill well 20/05b-13 on UK Seaward Licence P.2170.
The well will test the Verbier prospect, located within the P.2170 Licence area.
The drilling campaign is expected to last 70 days.
Chief executive Andrew Benitz said: “We are pleased to announce that drilling operations on the Verbier prospect have now commenced. The Verbier prospect is estimated to have mean prospective resources of 162MMBOE and has the potential to add considerable value to our joint venture partnership.”
Norwegian giant Statoil, which is operator of the P.2170 Licence, will fund all costs up to US$25 million in respect of the exploration well. Operations could include an additional side track well, according to Jersey.
Jersey’s chief operating officer Ron Lansdell added: “The drilling of the Verbier prospect is the culmination of several years of hard and creative work by the joint venture partnership. The P.2170 Licence was previously operated by Jersey Oil & Gas alongside CIECO, and we significantly de-risked the prospect prior to negotiating the farm-out to Statoil, the current operator.
“Success at Verbier could provide significant impetus for potential future exploration of the neighbouring Cortina prospect within the P.2170 Licence area.”
Jersey Oil & Gas is a UK E&P Company focused on the North Sea. The Company owns an 18 per cent. interest in the P.2170 licence, Blocks 20/5b & 21/1d, Inner Moray Firth.
A Competent Persons Report published in March 2017, commissioned from ERC Equipoise Ltd, estimated the Verbier prospect to contain 162MMboe gross mean prospective resources. The licence also hosts the Cortina prospect, 124mmboe gross mean prospective resources, and Meribel lead which are both Upper Jurassic targets like Verbier.
Jersey plans to potentially build a major production portfolio via acquisitions coinciding with the cyclical recovery in the oil price and the current “opportune buying market” in the North Sea.
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