N E W S F E AT U R E
PES North Sea News DRILLING ACTIVITY UNITED KINGDOM At the time of writing there was one exploration well and one appraisal well active in the UK North Sea. A total of five exploration wells completed in 2020. There were no appraisal wells completed in 2020, which is a first for 55 years. In the Northern North Sea, Apache’s 9/19b-28 Gamma exploration well was spudded on 29 July with the Ocean Patriot semi-sub. Following three re-spuds and two sidetracks, drilling was completed on 25 December after 150 days of operations, with the 9/19b-29Z well having been abandoned. Chrysaor has reported that results from the well programme are ‘highly encouraging’, suggesting that both hydrocarbons have been discovered and that at least one of the penetrations reached the target Eocene reservoir. In the Central North Sea, Apache spudded the 22/6c-B4 exploration well on 28 December, using the Ocean Patriot which mobilised from the operator’s 9/19b-29Z Gamma well. The well is targeting the Upper Jurassic Fulmar Formation within the Bacchus South prospect, which is adjacent to the producing Bacchus field and comprises four tilted fault blocks. In the success case, the well will be developed via the current infrastructure that delivers hydrocarbons from Bacchus to the Alpha platform, part of the Apache-operated Forties field hub, c. 6.5 km to the southwest. Operator CNOOC spudded the Glengorm South 22/26d-3 appraisal well with the Prospector 5 jack-up rig on 3 December. The well is targeting the Upper Jurassic intra-Heather Formation J54 Freshney Sandstone Member at a location to the south of the 2019 discovery well and is planned to be tested. The well has an
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expected duration of 300 days and will be followed by a second appraisal well in block 22/21c which will be drilled once operations on this have completed. UK ONSHORE On 11 January, operator Egdon Resources announced a workover rig had arrived at the Wressle field on the 4 January. The workover rig will recomplete and reperforate the Wressle-1 well to enable the Ashover Grit reservoir to be flowed prior to the end of January. The reservoir is expected to produce at a constrained rate of 500 bopd. On 23 November, Union Jack Oil and Reabold announced the West Newton B-1 well in PEDL 183 had reached TD at 2,295m (7,530ft) MD and encountered both the primary Kirkham Abbey and secondary Cadeby Reef Formations. The Kirkham Abbey Formation indicated hydrocarbons from logs, cuttings and mud gas readings. The secondary Cadeby Reef target did not have sufficient reservoir development. An updip sidetrack was drilled to target an area that was expected to have better reservoir quality in the Kirkham Abbey Formation. On 10 December, operator Rathlin and JV partners announced the WNB-1Z appraisal sidetrack had drilled to a TD of 2,114m (6,936ft) and encountered a hydrocarbon column in the Kirkham Abbey Formation. The well was spudded on 4 October by a Drillmec HH 220 drilling rig and was temporarily suspended on 12 December awaiting the arrival of a testing rig. NORWAY At the time of writing there were four exploration wells and no appraisal wells active on the NCS. A total of twenty-six exploration and two appraisal wells completed in 2020.
In the North Sea, the MOL-operated 2/9-6 S Eidsvoll well was spudded on 8 January 2021 with the Maersk Integrator jack-up. The well is targeting a submarine fan complex within the Upper Jurassic Mandal Formation. The well is prognosed to take 44 days in a dry hole case. The Equinor-operated 31/1-2 S Røver Nord exploration well was spudded on 12 December using the West Hercules semi-submersible. The well is targeting the Middle Jurassic Brent Group with secondary prospectivity in the Lower Jurassic Cook Formation. The well is prognosed to take 42 days in a dry hole case. Equinor spudded the 31/2-22 S Blasto exploration well on 9 December also using the West Hercules semisubmersible. The well is targeting the Upper Jurassic Sognefjord Formation in a tilted fault block downdip of the Troll field. The well was spudded and the top hole completed prior to being temporarily suspended, with the rig moving to the nearby Røver Nord well. Total drilling time is expected to be 32 days in a dry hole case. The Equinor-operated 34/7-37 S 7-Fjell exploration well spudded on 31 October using the Deepsea Atlantic semi-submersible. The well was targeting the Upper Jurassic IntraDraupne sandstones in a stratigraphic trap to the southwest of the Tordis field. The well was completed on 2 December having failed to encounter reservoir in the Draupne Formation. In the Norwegian Sea, the ConocoPhillips-operated 6507/5-10 S Slagugle exploration well completed on 30 December using the Leiv Eiriksson semi-submersible. The well was targeting the Lower Jurassic Åre Formation and the Triassic in a combination trap to the east of the Ærfugl field. The well encountered a large oil column in sandstones of the Åre
