Faroe Petroleum’s Edinburgh field could contain upwards of 200 million barrels of oil per day, the firm’s boss said yesterday.
The structure straddles the border between the UK and Norwegian sectors of the central North Sea and is regarded as one of the area’s largest undeveloped prospects.
The UK licence was awarded to Aberdeen-headquartered Faroe in the 30th licensing round in May.
The company intends to obtain a Norwegian licence before making a firm well commitment.
If all goes to plan, a high pressure, high temperature well should be drilled on Edinburgh next year.
Faroe chief executive Graham Stewart said a number of “large companies” had shown an interest in farming into the prospect.
He said: “They are not companies you would have thought would be interested given recent behaviours.
“Some of those companies are regarded as being at the exit, but they are not.
“They are just very focused on selling older assets, but holding onto newer ones.”
Mr Stewart also lamented a lack of opportunities in the UK North Sea acquisition market.
Speaking at ONS, he said: “The M&A market is very hot. Competition is very fierce and it is difficult to get a bargain.
“We’re running out of opportunities – there were more last year than this year.
“There are quite a lot of players, but many looking for bigger deals.
“We’ve got nothing in the pipeline to sell or buy, at present. We’re looking all the time, but are not discussing anything today.”
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