(London) Tullow's latest development well on the Ketch gas field in the southern North Sea, Ketch-7, has been completed, testing at a rate of 45 MMcf/d. However, the well also encountered higher than expected reservoir pressures. The horizontal producer is the second in the Schooner/Ketch re-development program, and will be connected to the Ketch production facilities next month, via the Caister Murdoch pipeline system.
Ketch-7 should lift output from Schooner and Ketch beyond 100 MMcf/d. Drilling on the next horizontal producer, the 3,000-ft long Ketch-8, started mid-September. Tullow has also been drilling an appraisal well on NW Schooner, targeting an extension of the main Schooner field. This well is currently being prepared for testing, having encountered 275-ft of net gas pay. If the test flows at commercial rates, the well will be tied into the Schooner platform in mid-2007 via a new pipeline.
