Offshore staff
PARIS – CNOOC Petroleum Europe has discovered large volumes of gas/condensate in the Glengorm prospect in the Central Graben region of the UK central North Sea.
The well was drilled in 80 m (262 ft) water depth on the P2215 license to a final depth of 5,056 m (16,588 ft), encountering 37 m (121 ft) net gas and condensate pay in a good-quality Upper Jurassic reservoir.
Partner Total estimates recoverable resources as close to 250 MMboe. Further drilling and testing will follow to appraise the resource and the reservoir productivity.
Results were at the top end of expectations with a high condensate yield, said Kevin McLachlan, senior vice president, Exploration at Total.
Glengorm is close to existing infrastructure operated by the company, with tieback possibilities to the Elgin-Franklin platform or the Culzean complex, which is due to start production later this year. There is upside potential with other prospects identified on the same block.
Euroil, a subsidiary of Edison E&P, is the other partner.
Kevin Swann, a senior analyst with Wood Mackenzie’s North Sea upstream team, said: “At 250 MMboe…Glengorm is the largest gas discovery in the UK since Culzean in 2008.
“There is a lot of hype around frontier areas likewest of Shetland, where Total discovered the Glendronach field last year. But Glengorm is in the central North Sea and this find shows there is still life in some of the more mature UK waters.”
Glengorm is subject to very high pressures and temperatures, and this was CNOOC’s third attempt with the drill bit at proving hydrocarbons, Swann said. “Technical problems saw it try and fail to drill the prospect twice in 2017, so persistence has paid off.
“This is a good start to what could prove to be a pivotal year forUK exploration with several high impact wells in the plan.”
01/29/2019
