UKCS
Eight (four exploration and four appraisal) wells are currently active on the UK Continental Shelf . . . an increase of one on last month.
The tally comprises: two West of Shetland; five in the Central North Sea and one in the Southern North Sea.
Three of the appraisals are side-tracks in the Central North Sea.
To date, seven wells have been spudded this year.
At the end of March, 20 development/production wells utilising mobile units were active, which is down on the 24 reported in the last edition of Energy.
In total, 28 rigs are involved in E&A and D&P drilling while five are currently in port awaiting contract. In addition, the JW McLean remains stacked.
West of Shetland
Of the two active wells, BP is drilling ahead in its long-running Clair field appraisal programme, with sidetrack well 206/9a-3Z utilising the Paul B Loyd Jnr, while in the same quadrant, Total’s L. Cretaceous Spinnaker prospect remains the target of the Sedco 714, which is drilling well 206/4a-3Z.
Central North Sea
In the CNS, GDF Suez spudded its Marconi exploration probe, well 30/1f-13, using the Galaxy II jack-up. The target is a Palaeocene objective. ConocoPhillips has started side-track operations on its long-running Jade appraisal well 30/2a-J12, drilled by the jack-up Maersk Resilient.
EnQuest reported a successful appraisal of its Cairngorm discovery, with side-track well 16/3d-16Z having encountered an oil column in the fractured basement reservoir. The rig Ocean Princess remains on location.
Nexen has abandoned its Tertiary Kookaburra exploration well 28/15-1, which was drilled by the Noble Ton van Langeveld. This rig has since mobilised to spud the same company’s well 14/26a-10 on the Blackjack prospect.
Meanwhile, Talisman has sidetracked its Seagull (South) appraisal with well 22/29c-8Z drilled by the Sedco 711 and targeting a Triassic objective.
At the end of February, Endeavour wrapped-up operations with the semi-submersible Transocean Prospect at its Palaeocene Ravel well 15/27a-12A, which remains suspended for the time being.
Southern North Sea
The Gas Basin has now had its first spud of the year. GDF Suez’s well 44/12a-6 was kicked off using the jack-up Santa Fe Monarch. The target is the Cepheus prospect, which is an adjacent Carboniferous fault block to Cygnus.
Summary
Both the Northern North Sea and East Irish Sea are currently devoid of drilling activity. And, as the first quarter of 2014 draws to a close it seems E&A activity in the UK remains low.
If this drill-rate continues, year-end totals will likely show little departure from the previous two to three years.
With the 2014 Budget failing to report any tax incentives for either exploration or appraisal activity and given the bareboat charter tax issue, it seems that UK drilling levels will remain poor for the foreseeable future.
NCS
A total of 11 wells are currently active on the NCS, six of which are exploration, the remaining five being appraisal. Seven of these wells are located in the North Sea, while the Norwegian and Barents Seas account for two wells each.
There are 22 development/production wells currently operating. One is in the Norwegian Sea and the remaining 21 are in the North Sea.
The mobile drill units count is currently 38 of which 11 are on E&A duties and 22 on D&P drilling. The remaining five are awaiting contract or in the process of mobilising between drilling locations.
North Sea
Of the seven wells currently active in the North Sea, the most recent to spud is Statoil’s well 35/11-17 on the southern end of the Fram field. In charge is the rig Songa Trym, which mobilised from the operator’s Juv prospect on the southern flanks of the Astero discovery.
In the same quad, RWE is drilling ahead with its Titan appraisal well 35/9-11 S utilising Ocean Rig’s Leiv Eriksson and targeting a Jurassic reservoir south-west of the discovery.
Two wells are active on quad 34 . . . Statoil’s well 34/8-17 S drilling with the COSL Pioneer on the northern extent of the Visund field, and well 34/10-54 A on the Valemon North prospect with the Transocean Leader, also for Statoil.
The final appraisals of Johan Sverdrup are under way with well 16/2-19 on the Lundin-operated Geitungen section, and well 16/3-8 A on the Statoil-operated Avaldsnes section utilising the Ocean Vanguard and Bredford Dolphin respectively.
The COSL Pioneer is working well 16/1-18, appraising the Edvard Grieg discovery. The target is the U.Jurassic reservoir at the western extent of the structure.
Elsewhere, the Maersk Giant was employed to drill sidetrack well 8/10-5 A on the Butch East prospect with the pilot hole having completed at the beginning of March.
Norwegian Sea
Here, the Transocean Arctic is testing VNG-operated well 6406/12-3 S on the Pil prospect, which is touted as perhaps the largest discovery of the year so far. Once tested, a sidetrack will be initiated to target the Bue Prospect eastwards and down-dip from the pilot hole.
Meanwhile, on the adjacent quad, Wintershall continues drilling well 6407/1-7 with the Borgland Dolphin, appraising the Rodriguez discovery made at the beginning of 2013.
Barents Sea
In the Barents Sea, GDF Suez is drilling wildcat well 7218/8-1 on the Byrkje prospect with the Transocean Barents, which is the first probe on the Veslemøy High.
Statoil is rounding-up its Johan Castberg area campaign with well 7220/7-3 S on the Drivis prospect, utilising the West Hercules semi.
Summary
The end of the first quarter has seen drilling activity on the NCS remain buoyant, resulting in new exploration discoveries and successful appraisal programmes firming up established reserves.
Furthermore, there appears to be no shortage of wells planned for the near future, and with the high level of success in recent years it is no wonder this level of E&A activity looks set to be sustained for some time.
This column by David Moseley and Matthias Sasso is courtesy of North Sea analysts Hannon Westwood
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