North Sea operator Premier Oil said today a decision on whether to commercially develop the Fyne area would be made later this year after abandoning a well on the east of the field.
Premier said its East Fyne appraisal well had been drilled to a total depth of 5,020ft, but that although it found oil and gas bearing sands, the thickness of the oil bearing sand had been at the lower end of a pre-drill estimate.
East Fyne, in the central North Sea, is in the eastern part of the Fyne field and close to the recent Erne discovery – operated by Antrim Energy and owned equally by Antrim and Premier.
It had been hoped the Erne discovery would be part of future development plans on Fyne and the Greater Fyne Area.
Shares in Antrim, 35.1% owner in the block in which Fyne lies, fell nearly 17% today following the announcement.
In a statement Premier said: “The results of the East Fyne appraisal well will be incorporated into the Greater Fyne Area go-forward plans and a decision on whether a commercial development is viable for Premier is expected to be taken by the end of the second quarter of 2012.”
In its statement Antrim said the results of the well would be used to analyse field development options for Fyne.
It also said development plans for the Causeway field, operated by Valiant Causeway, a subsidiary of Valiant Petroleum, were moving forward.
Antrim has a 35.5% stake in Causeway.
Valiant has awarded a lump sum contract worth about £33million to Technip for engineering, procurement, installation and commissioning of rigid and flexible pipelines, subsea equipment and umbilicals.
The Borgsten Dolphin semi-submersible rig has been contracted to complete the existing production and water injection wells in the field.
Production will go via Taqa Bratani’s Cormorant North platform to Sullom Voe. First oil was on-track for the third quarter of 2012, said Antrim.
The Sedco 704 rig, which was being used to drill the East Fyne well, would now move to drill the Premier-operated central North Sea Bluebell prospect, Premier said. The results of this well are expected next month.