ENCORE Oil said yesterday it had agreed a contract for the Transocean Galaxy II jack-up rig to drill up to four exploration and appraisal wells on the Catcher discovery in block 28/9 in the UK central North Sea.
Catcher, thought to contain up to 300million barrels of oil, was found in June and is said to be one of the biggest UK discoveries in recent years.
The Transocean Galaxy II is expected to return to the Catcher area later this week and its first target will be the Varadero exploration prospect to the west of the Catcher discovery.
EnCore chief executive Alan Booth said: “We are delighted that the rig contract has been signed. We remain excited about the upside potential of the Catcher area which we hope will be better understood in the coming weeks and months.”
The equity in the block 28/9 partnership is EnCore Oil (15% and operator), Premier Oil (35%), Wintershall (20%), Nautical Petroleum (15%) and Agora Oil & Gas (15%).
Meanwhile, Subsea 7, the subsea engineering and construction company, said yesterday it had been awarded a four-year framework agreement with Shell Upstream International Europe for subsea pipeline installation across its European offshore fields and facilities.
The contract has a further three one-year extension options and with other recent contract awards will see Subsea 7 recruiting for in excess of 200 positions between its Aberdeen and Wick sites.
The Shell contract will cover the provision of subsea pipeline installation services on a call-off basis.
This includes project management, engineering and procurement services through to reeled pipeline installation offshore using Subsea 7’s pipelay vessel the Seven Navica.
Subsea 7 said the new contract was in addition to a long-term underwater services contract that the company has with Shell.
The contract is due to start immediately.