A North Sea well operated by Statoil is expected to be drilled next summer.
Jersey Oil & Gas, which has a share in the Verbier prospect in the central North Sea area, confirmed the move in a statement yesterday.
The Norwegian operator had a “drill-or-drop” deadline until the end of this month, however, no extension is now expected to be required from the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA).
Jersey Oil & Gas holds an 18% share in the licence.
Chief executive Andrew Benitz said: “We believe the planned well could be one of the most exciting exploration prospects to be drilled in the UK continental shelf in recent years.”
The drill commitment is welcome news to the sector where exploration activity has dropped to record lows in the wake of the oil price crash.
According to trade body Oil and Gas UK, less than £100million of fresh capital has been committed to the basin this year, with only one new field approved. This compares with five greenfield projects sanctioned last year with associated development capital at more than £4.3billion.
In August it was revealed Statoil was snapping up a 70% stake in UK North Sea assets owned by Jersey Oil & Gas (JOG) and Cieco Exploration and Production in a deal worth £1.5million.
Statoil – whose Aberdeen-based UK North Sea operations are led by Hedda Felin – has agreed to put £19million towards the cost of an exploration well on the licence, with drilling planned for 2017.
A spokeswoman for Statoil said: “Statoil has increased its exploration activity in the UKCS in recent years, with the belief that potential still remains. Currently we plan to drill three exploration wells in 2017, including the Verbier prospect.”
The licence area contains two oil prospects with combined estimated volumes of more than 500million stock-tank barrels.
Last month, the M/V Fugro Galaxy arrived on location to begin a survey over the Verbier prospect.
The site survey was expected to be completed during the fourth quarter of this year with the interpretation results expected to follow.
