Oil and gas firm EnCore Oil said today tests on its Tudor Rose prospect had found oil but it was too thick to be commercial.
It added its 14/30a-5 well on Tudor Rose in the outer Moray Firth found an oil column but initial well-site analysis suggested the oil would be “too viscous to be commercially exploitable”.
The well is to be plugged and abandoned, with more tests being carried out to confirm the results.
It was EnCore’s last well before the firm gets taken over by Premier Oil, a deal agreed by shareholders earlier this month.
EnCore – operator on Tudor Rose – has a 40% interest in the block, alongside Endeavour Energy (20%), EnQuest (20%) and Nautical Petroleum, 20%.
Steve Jenkins, Nautical’s chief executive, said focus would now move to the Buffalo prospect to the south of and in the same block as Tudor Rose.