A North Sea prospect operated by TotalEnergies (PARIS: TTE), and hyped up by analysts, has come in under estimations.
Drilling at Benriach, previously estimated to hold mid-case resources of 638 billion cubic feet of gas, kicked off in March using the Transocean Barents rig.
“Gas bearing sands” were found at the West of Shetland prospect, in the target Royal Sovereign formation.
But the discovery is expected to be sub-commercial, project partner Kistos Energy (LON: KIST) confirmed on Monday.
As operator, with a 50% holding, TotalEnergies will now carry out analysis of the acquired data, with the future of the hotly anticipated prospect now looking in doubt.
Analysts had hailed the play as “well to watch”, and success at Benriach would have helped to de-risk other fields in the Laggan-Tormore region.
Kistos, which holds a 25% stake in the prospect, said that the well has been drilled ahead of schedule and the final cost is expected to be within previous guidance.
Rockrose Energy owns the remaining 25% stake in the prospect.
The Transocean Barents rig was mobilised from Olen, Norway and spud the well on 21 March.
A total measured depth of ~4,400 metres was reached, and “an extensive data acquisition programme has been conducted”, London-listed Kistos said.
Andrew Austin, executive chairman of Kistos, added: “The operational performance has been excellent, and I would like to thank TotalEnergies and the team on the Transocean Barents rig, who drilled the well safely and efficiently. Kistos remains committed to bringing additional gas volumes through the Shetland Gas Plant to add shareholder value and contribute towards domestic energy security, and we look forward to providing further updates to the markets in due course.”
Production was recently suspended at the TotalEnergies-operated Edradour field west of Shetland, amid reports that increased water output is causing issues.
A “technical issue” has forced output to be temporarily curtailed, licence partner Kistos confirmed.
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