The first appraisal well on the Glengorm gas field in the UK central North Sea has found “no commercial hydrocarbons”, a project partner said today.
Glengorm was hailed as the biggest gas find in the UK North Sea in more than a decade when it was announced as a discovery in January 2019.
The field, operated by Chinese firm Cnooc, was estimated to hold recoverable resources of about 250 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe).
This would have put it in the same ballpark as the 250-300m boe Culzean gas field, discovered by Maersk Oil in 2008.
On December 3, 2020, the Prospector 5 jack-up rig started drilling Glengorm South, the first of a two-well appraisal campaign.
Research and consultancy firm Westwood Global Energy said at the time that the well was located to the south of the 2019 discovery well.
Westwood said a second Glengorm appraisal well in block 22/21c would be drilled once operations on the first well had completed.
London-listed Energean, which has a 25% stake in the licence, said this morning that Glengorm South “contained no commercial hydrocarbons”.
A spokesman for Cnooc later confirmed that the well was non-commercial.
Cnooc and Energean stressed that the existing Glengorm North discovery and the Glengorm Central appraisal well, which will spud shortly, were considered to be independent of Glengorm South.
It means there is still hope of a positive outcome at Glengorm, but today’s announcement is likely to come as a blow to project partners.
Operator Cnooc holds 50% of the licence and Total, which acquired Maersk Oil, has 25%.
Total’s Elgin-Franklin and Culzean fields are viewed as potential tie-back hosts for Glengorm.
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