CENTRICA Energy spudded an exploration well on the Butch prospect in the Norwegian North Sea yesterday using the Maersk Guardian drilling rig.
Drilling is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year.
Equity holders in the two licences covering Butch are Centrica 40%, as operator, Suncor 30%, Spring Energy Norway 15% and Faroe Petroleum 15%.
Graham Stewart, chief executive of Aberdeen-based Faroe Petroleum – which has a 15% stake in the field – said: “The Butch prospect offers an exciting opportunity to test a good prospect in the Jurassic Ula Formation, which has proved so successful in the nearby Ula, Tambar and Gyda fields.”
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BP has put its stake in a central North Sea gas field up for sale adding to its inventory currently on the market, it was reported yesterday.
The oil supermajor is to sell its 27.5% stake in Shearwater, a Shell-operated field 138 miles east of Aberdeen, which started production in 2000.
Meanwhile, GDF Suez was also reported to have put its 10.4% interest in the Total-operated West Franklin up for sale.
West Franklin is thought to be the deepest commercial hydrocarbon accumulation on the UK continental shelf.