Offshore staff
ABERDEEN, UK -- ENI’s Anne Marie exploration well off the Faroe Islands appears to have been a sub-commercial discovery.
Well 6004/8a-1 in license 005 spudded in July by the Seadrill semisubmersible West Phoenix, and drilled to TD of 3,901 m (12,798 ft), in 1,106 m (3,628 ft) water depth. The location is 190 km (118 mi) southeast of the Faroese capital Tórshavn.
Partner Faroe Petroleum says hydrocarbons were found in thin sandy layers dispersed in a thick, Palaeocene volcano-clastic sequence, providing evidence of an active petroleum system. Further analyses are in progress to evaluate the find’s size and characteristic.
The rig will likely plug and abandon the well and depart the location in the next few days.
Graham Stewart, Chief Executive of Faroe Petroleum, said, “Whilst we did not encounter thick reservoir sands at the Anne Marie well location, the discovery gives us significant encouragement to continue exploration efforts in this license, which we have held with ENI for over 10 years.
Faroe is also a partner in the nearby Lagavulin exploration well west of Shetland, operated by Chevron. This is currently under way from the drillship Stena Carron, 230 km (143 mi) north east of Chevron’s Rosebank/Lochnagar discovery.
The Lagavulin well targets potential reservoirs of pre-Cretaceous to Palaeocene age within a large, elongated, four-way structural closure. Faroe says Lagavulin, which extends across blocks 217/10 and 210/14 and 15, is one of the largest undrilled structures on the Atlantic margin, with potential reserves exceeding 500 MMboe. The well started last month and should take around 120 days to complete.
11/01/2010
