Aberdeen oil and gas firm Sterling Resources is eyeing its first development offshore the Netherlands after spudding its first well in the area.
Sterling, which moved from Banchory to the Granite City earlier this year, entered the Netherlands just over a year ago and is now looking at four oil discoveries in five blocks in an area 50 miles offshore.
It has already started conceptual development design work on an offshore production system should the first well, being drilled by the Maersk Resolute jack-up rig, and others in the area prove successful.
Stephen Birrell, the firm’s general manager for the Netherlands and France, and also Sterling’s vice president, said: “We are delighted to start our operations on a field that has the potential to contain commercial quantities of hydrocarbons from a number of structures in close proximity.
“This well is intended to define the extent of the oil accumulation discovered 29 years ago.”
Sterling said there had been several wells on the discoveries, which tested oil at flow rates of up to 4,800 barrels per day.
The accumulation currently being appraised was originally discovered in 1982 by Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM) and was successfully appraised by a further well in 1984, also drilled by NAM.
Results of Sterling’s well are expected around the end of January 2012.
Sterling Resources Netherlands is operator, with a 25% interest. Petro Ventures Netherlands has 25%, Grove Energy (a subsidiary of EnQuest) has 10% and Energie Beheer Nederland has 40%.