New development well completed at Tailwind’s Gannet E project

Drilling of the fourth well in the Gannet E expansion project has been safely completed, on time and on budget.

Energy services giant Petrofac was tasked with managing and operating the well, 21/30c-29 (GE-04), on behalf of field owner Tailwind Energy.

Spudding was completed using the Stena Don drilling rig.

Initial well results are above the pre-drill expectation, said Tailwind, and initial flow rates are expected to exceed 8,000 barrels of oil per day when production comes online.

Rig demobilisation operations are in the process of completing, with the Stena Don expected to be off location by tomorrow (Jan 10).

The well has been temporarily suspended, ahead of being tied into Dana Petroleum’s Triton floating production, storage and offloading vessel in the first quarter of 2023.

© Tailwind Energy

Tailwind is the 100% owner of the Gannet E field, and holds a 46.42% stake in Triton, around 120 miles east of Aberdeen.

Gannet E is a two-stage project to expand production from the field, with a new production line and manifold being installed to boost output from the existing three wells.

Plans are in place to drill a fifth well at the field next year.

Tailwind’s net production in 2022 averaged 11,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), a figure that is on course to rise as new projects come on stream.

Gannet E

Tailwind acquired its 100% stake in Gannet E in September 2018, through its purchase of Shell and ExxonMobil’s stakes in the Triton cluster.

Shell initially developed Gannet via three wells connected to the Gannet Alpha platform, about 110 miles east of Aberdeen.

First oil was achieved in 1998, some 16 years after the field’s discovery, but production halted in 2011 following a pipeline leak.

Gannet E resumed production in 2018 following installation of a new pipeline to Triton.

Serica deal

At the tail end of 2022 Serica Energy (LON: SQZ) announced plans to buy Tailwind in a shares and cash deal worth a total of £367 million.

Tailwind, backed by commodities and energy group Mercuria, has been steadily expanding in the North Sea in recent years.

Completion of the deal, expected in March 2023, will put Serica in the top 10 club of producers in the UK North Sea.

This morning the London-listed company published new info on the proposed takeover, arguing that inherited tax losses could deliver a positive to shareholders in coming years.

Serica said £470m of Tailwind’s tax losses could be used as offsets against its taxable income over the next three years.

A meeting to approve the deal is due to take place on January 27.