A North Sea exploration well, previously tipped as one to watch, is to be plugged and abandoned (P&A) after coming up dry.
There was a great deal of excitement when Shell (LON: SHEL) spudded the Edinburgh well, in offshore UK license P255 near the UK-Norwegian border, in March this year.
Estimates placed volumes at the prospect at between 100 and 675 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe).
That would have made it one of the most high-impact wells drilled in the UK North Sea in recent years.
But Edinburgh is now being P&A having failed to encounter commercial quantities of hydrocarbons in the prospect.
The well, drilled using the Valaris 122 jack-up rig, reached a depth of 16,500 feet and encountered two sandstones of Jurassic age, but wireline logging indicated no movable oil.
Edinburgh is operated by Shell with a 40% stake – Norwegian operator DNO holds a 45% interest in the prospect, while Spirit Energy has a 15% concern.
It was drilled through a joint well agreement covering four separate, contiguous licenses, of which two are in the UK (P255 and P2401) and two are in Norway (PL018ES and PL969).
It is a big blow for Shell after the supermajor’s Jaws prospect in the Central North Sea also failed to land earlier this year.
One to watch
Edinburgh is the latest of several exploration and appraisal wells to be drilled in the HPHT Central Graben region, following appraisal drilling at Glengorm and exploration at Jade South, Dunnottar and Isabella.
In 2021 Graeme Bagley, head of global exploration and appraisal at Westwood Global Energy, identified 20 “key” high-impact wells, including Shell’s Edinburgh prospect.
He described Edinburgh as a “large prospect in a proven play” which will be high value if successful.
Before its hostile takeover by DNO in early 2019, former licence operator Faroe claimed the Edinburgh prospect could contain upwards of 200 million barrels of oil.
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