Five wells are currently active on the UKCS, a drop of two since last month. Of these, two are exploratory; three are appraisal.
One is drilling in the Southern North Sea, while the remaining four are split equally, with two West of Shetland and two in the Central North Sea. A total of 11 spuds are recorded to date this year, with an increase of one since last month.
A total of 29 development/production wells utilising mobile units are currently active, three more than last month. Some 34 rigs are currently involved in E&A and D&P drilling, while three are currently in port awaiting contracts, and one, the JW McLean, remains stacked.
West of Shetland
BP abandoned Clair appraisal well 206/9a-4 after 59 days, the rig, Paul B Loyd Jnr mobilising to spud mid-month the fifth Clair appraisal, well 206/12a-4.
Meanwhile, Hurricane announced it has successfully tested the basement reservoir with its Lancaster appraisal, well 205/21a-6, which is to be suspended as a future producer. The rig, Sedco 712 remains on location ahead of suspension.
Central North Sea
Operations continue with GDF Suez’s Palaeocene Marconi exploration well 30/1f-13A, where the Galaxy II has reached total depth.
Talisman’s Seagull South probe, exploration well 22/29c-8Z, continues operations with the Sedco 711 targeting the Triassic.
In addition, ConocoPhillips’ Jade appraisal well 30/2c-J12Z, which had a secondary objective to target a prospect in an adjacent block to the south, was reportedly completed on June 8, with the rig, Maersk Resilient now off location and mobilised to carry out development drilling in the Joanne field.
Since mobilising from Cepheus well 44/12a-6, abandoned as a gas discovery last month, the Santa Fe Monarch has spudded GDF Suez’s Romeo exploration well 47/14b-11. This is targeting near-field prospectivity immediately north of the Juliet field, where the primary objective lies in the Rotliegendes.
Elsewhere
With no change since last month, both the East Irish Sea and Northern North Sea are devoid of E&A drilling activity.
Overview
Given the announcement last month of two recent discoveries, along with E&A activity being higher than in Norway, it seems the UK sector had picked up somewhat.
However, with only five wells now currently active at the start of July it seems this spell of activity was, at best, brief.
That said, success rates appear higher this year, with Hurricane’s Lancaster appraisal showing promise, while ConocoPhillips’ Jade appraisal is also speculated as having had a positive outcome, while a discovery at Romeo in the Southern Gas Basin, to add to that already reported at Cepheus, would certainly improve success rates compared to last year.
Seven wells are currently active on the NCS, four of which are exploration and the remaining three being appraisal. One of these wells is located in the Norwegian Sea, while the North Sea and Barents Sea contain three each.
There are 14 development/production wells operating in the sector, one in the Barents Sea, three in the Norwegian Sea and the remaining 10 in the North Sea.
There are currently 33 mobile drilling units in the sector, with eight of these on E&A duties and 14 on D&P drilling.
Of the remaining 11, four are awaiting contract, one of these being a new build, and the remaining seven are in the process of mobilising between drilling locations.
North Sea
Of the three wells currently active, the earliest to spud was well 8/10-6 S for Centrica on the Butch SW prospect utilising the Maersk Giant. The rig had mobilised from the same operator’s dry well 8/10-5 S on the Butch East prospect.
Also active is Total’s Garantiana appraisal well 34/6-3 S being drilled with the Leiv Eriksson, which had previously drilled RWE’s Titan appraisal 35/9-11 S where it encountered both oil and gas in poor quality Jurassic reservoir.
Well 16/4-8 S is the most recent to spud in the North Sea, with the Bredford Dolphin appraising the Luno II Central discovery for Lundin.
Norwegian Sea
VNG-operated well 6406/12-3 A, the only active well in the Norwegian Sea at present, is in the process of exploring the Bue prospect with the Transocean Arctic via a side-track initiated from Pil discovery well 6406/12-3 S, which completed in the first half of last month.
Elsewhere in the Norwegian Sea, Noreco turned up dust on the Verdande prospect well 6608/10-16 using the Bredford Dolphin, as did E.ON with well 6507/5-7 on the Terne prospect utilising the Borgland Dolphin.
Barents Sea
Well 7324/7-2, spudded by the Transocean Barents in mid-April, continues drilling on the Wisting Main prospect for OMV where it is exploring the last of three highs identified on the overall Wisting structure.
COSL Innovator continues with the appraisal of well 7120/1-4 S on the Gohta discovery for Lundin. The results are eagerly anticipated from this sub-province that appears to be on the brink of commerciality.
Most recent to spud is Statoil’s well 7325/1-1 utilising the Transocean Spitzbergen on the Atlantis prospect. This follows disappointing results on the operator’s Apollo prospect earlier in the month.
Overview
With a slight increase in E&A activity on last month it is evident that hunger for Norwegian hydrocarbons remains strong. A number of exciting prospects are being drilled across the NCS.
Bue High is on this list and a solid discovery to bulk up the already substantial Pil find likely to lead to some keen investment from the licence partners in order to breathe some life into the currently dormant Southern Norwegian Sea.
The Barents Sea’s Gohta appraisal is another high value target to keep an eye on in the coming weeks in an area that is on the brink of success but as of yet commercially unjustifiable.
High hopes are also pinned on appraisal success on Garantiana II where already currently commercial reserves on the original discovery look set to revitalise a rather mature Northern North Sea.
Disappointing results on the Apollo prospect mid-month don’t appear to have reduced drilling impetus on the licence, with the consortium currently in the process of drilling the Atlantis prospect, so demonstrating their confidence in this costly, extreme Northern Barents Sea play.
This report by Dave Moseley and Matthias Sasso is courtesy of North Sea analysts Hannon Westwood.
