Seven E&A (exploration and appraisal) wells are active on the UKCS – five up on this time last month, albeit one was a re-spud – with three exploration and four appraisal wells.
The activity set covers just two areas: the Central North Sea and West of Shetland.
Only four wells have spudded (three exploratory and one appraisal) in the year to date. This is indeed a low level of drilling.
However, the current number is in fact little different to recent years, except for 2008, which saw 15 E&A started in the first two months.
Ten development/production wells have spudded and three sidetracks kicked-off, a figure that shows a broad consistency since 2009. In total, 24 development wells are currently active, slightly down on the 26 reported last month, with half the wells utilising mobile rigs.
Central North Sea
Endeavour re-spudded well 15/27e-12 on the Palaeocene Ravel prospect on February 18 with the semi-submersible Transocean Prospect.
That same day, Nexen spudded well 28/15-1 on the Tertiary (Tay/Cromarty) Kookaburra prospect with the Noble Ton van Langeveld.
Operations continue on three appraisals: EnQuest well 16/3d-16Z on the Basement Cairngorm Discovery with the Ocean Princess, Talisman well 22/29c-8 on the Triassic Seagull (South) location with the Sedco 711 and ConocoPhillips exploration/appraisal well 30/2c-J12, with the Maersk Resilient.
West of Shetland
West of Shetland, BP well 206/9a-3Z appraising the Clair field continues operations using the Paul B Loyd Jnr, while Total well 206/4a-3Re, a re-entry targeting the L.Cretaceous Spinnaker prospect, continues with the Sedco 714.
The drillship Stena Carron abandoned Ithaca’s well 204/18b-2A on the Palaeocene Handcross prospect on February 19 as a dry hole after 42 days. The vessel headed for port in Lerwick.
Northern North Sea
The Northern North Sea, Southern North Sea and West of Britain sectors are currently without E&A drilling activity.
In the latter, EOG’s well 110/7b-9 on the Triassic “J”-prospect was abandoned “tighthole” on January 31 after 10 days. Ensco 80 was reportedly still on location more than three weeks later.
Summary
The weather has once again played its part although with a greater and more prolonged impact than in many a recent year.
A number of rigs are waiting in the wings to spud as soon as a suitable weather window is identified, but only the J W McLean remains stacked.
Oil & Gas UK’s “Operators’ Forecast” indicating potential for 37 exploration wells in 2013 (of which 85% (31 wells) had reportedly secured rig slots) failed to materialise and just 14 were spudded, less than 38% of the prediction.
That same report noted that “exploration activity is expected to peak in 2014, with 53 (exploration) wells forecast to be drilled”.
On that basis 49 prospects must be targeted in the next 10 months – or not as is more likely the case.
If nothing else, the survey would appear to show operator intent, although translating that into action is evidently a different matter.
Oil & Gas UK accepts in its just published activity report that E&A drilling activity is critical to delivering discoveries that may in time become tomorrow’s developments.
NORWAY
Business as usual on the NCS
A total of 12 E&A wells are currently active on the Norwegian Continental Shelf – eight exploration and four appraisal.
Eight of these E&A wells are located in the North Sea, while the Norwegian and Barents seas each have two wells apiece. A total of 11 well starts are recorded this year, including one sidetrack.
There are, 21 development/production wells operating – with two in the Norwegian Sea, one in the Barents Sea and the remaining 18 in the North Sea.
Currently, 38 mobile offshore drilling units are in the sector, with 12 of these on E&A duties and 21 on D&P drilling, while the remaining five are awaiting a contract or in the process of mobilising between drilling locations.
North Sea
Eight wells are currently drilling, the latest of these to spud being Lundin’s Edvard Grieg appraisal well 16/1-18 (COSL Innovator), the rig having mobilised from the operator’s Torvastad sidetrack well 16/2-20 A, this having completed mid-February.
In the same quadrant, Lundin is drilling ahead with its Johan Sverdrup appraisal well 16/3-8 S utilising the Bredford Dolphin, while Centrica’s Butch East exploration probe, well 8/10-5 S, continues with jack-up Maersk Giant targeting an U.Jurassic objective.
Elsewhere in the North Sea, Total has completed well 25/5-9 on the Palaeocene Trell prospect as an oil find: the Leiv Eiriksson moving to drill well 35/9-11, an appraisal of RWE’s Tital discovery.
Statoil is drilling ahead with four exploration wells, one of which, well 34/10-54 A, is a sidetrack on its long running L.Jurassic Rav/Valemon North exploration programme with the Transocean Leader, the pilot hole to this having been abandoned mid-month.
On the same Quad, well 34/8-17 S is targeting an area immediately north of the Visund field and utilising the COSL Pioneer.
Well 25/9-4 – Tastaveden ha been abandoned by the Ocean Vanguard as dry. the rig is mobilising to drill John Sverdrup appraisal 16/2-19. Songa Trym continues with the 35/11-16 S exploration well on the Juv prospect.
Norwegian Sea
Wintershall, on the first day of February, kicked-off well 6407/1-7, where it is targeting the Cretaceous Solberg prospect and utilising the Borgland Dolphin, while VNG continues operations with the Transocean Arctic on well 6406/12-3 S at its Jurassic Pil & Bue prospect.
Faroe abandoned mid-February its Novus exploration probe well 6507/10-2 S, having made an oil and gas discovery in the Jurassic with the West Navigator drillship.
Barents Sea
Two wells are active, with Statoil nearing completion of its Kramsnø exploration well 7220/4-1 using the West Hercules. A discovery in the M. Jurassic was reported mid-month. The rig will move to drill the Drivis prospect south of the Johan Castberg discovery.
Elsewhere, Det norske ha made what seems to be a sub-commercial find with its Triassic Langlitinden discovery, well 7222/11-2 with the Transocean Barents, having kicked-off in mid-January.
Summary
As we near the end of the first quarter in the Norwegian sector, it seems its business as usual with 12 active wells.
Further, with several more in the pipeline which will no doubt utilise rigs that are close to completing (or near to completing) wells, it seems that E&A activity will stay on the current high.
The Wellslot report by Simon Robertshaw and David Moseley is courtesy of North Sea analysts Hannon Westwood.
