Appraisal drilling at Ithaca Energy’s K2 discovery will now take double the length of time expected, amid ongoing issues with sidetrack drilling.
K2 lies in the central North Sea nearly 130 miles off the Aberdeenshire coast and roughly 15 miles west of the UK/Norwegian median line.
Drilling at well 22/14c-10 began in June using the Stena Spey rig, targeting around 20.6 million barrels of oil equivalent – though independent estimates from advisory firm Envoi resource point to a potential of 102 million boe across numerous geological targets on the block.
Ithaca (LON:ITH) reported a hydrocarbon discovery and “encouraging well results” at the end of July, later stating during its earnings call in mid-August that results were expected in the “next few weeks”.
These results awaited the completion of an appraisal sidetrack – an operation which appears not to have gone as smoothly.
The situation may be further complicated by the loss of the rig’s anchor lines and the evacuation of its crew during Storm Babet over the weekend.
Filings published by offshore regulator OPRED last week show Ithaca has made three requests to extend its consents for K2, with paperwork showing a series of changes to initial plans in light of drilling issues and weather delays.
On 17 October Ithaca requested an extension to the drilling project “due to delays in the drilling programme and contingency for inclement weather”, adding a further 28 days to the already slow-running project.
After initial well spudding at K2, the filings show contingency sidetrack well 10z was “unsuccessful”, with the operator instead opting to suspend the well and initiate a mechanical sidetrack.
Drillers then encountered “wellbore stability issues” for sidetrack 10Y, and the 9 5/8″ liner was not run to target depth and was set at 7500ft, necessitating a further change.
In late September teams reported an issue with a 7″ liner, which could not be set in the 10Y sidetrack, requiring a further new sidetrack well to be drilled (10X), adding more than a month to the project timeline.
All told, the overruns have taken the project timeline from original estimates of 92 days to an expected 175 days, with work now set to run potentially until 31 December 2023.
The delay will also have an impact on the project’s emissions. The extension to work on K2 “will not increase the time spent drilling, but it will increase the emissions to atmosphere” the filings note, owing to the drilling rig being on location for longer and more helicopter flights and supply vessel journeys.
Due to the additional days on location, overall emissions of CO2 equivalent will increase by 15.5% from the original project calculation, Ithaca said.
OPRED approved the request for the latest amendment on 18 October.
Ithaca has been approached for comment as to the status of the project.
Ithaca holds a 50% working interest in the licence, with the remaining half held by Dana Petroleum.
The group acquired its stake in K2 as part of a deal for Summit Exploration and Production in 2022.
It lies to the south-west of Harbour Energy’s Everest gas field, though should it prove viable a tie-back to Repsol Sinopec’s Montrose hub, in which Ithaca has an interest, is thought by analysts to be the “most likely” development option.