Offshore staff
LONDON – Azinor Catalyst has confirmed an oil discovery from a well and associated side track on the Agar-Plantain prospect in the UK central North Sea.
The semisubmersibleTransocean Leader drilled the initial 9/14a-17B well to its TD of 2,254 m (7,395 ft), encountering a thin column of high-quality oil and water-bearing sands, Catalyst said.
After the wellbore had delineated the eastern extent of the hydrocarbon discovery the partners decided to drill the contingent Agar side track to a TD of 2,066 m (6,778 ft), and this penetrated a 20-m (65.6-ft) gross interval of oil-bearing sand in the Eocene lower Frigg formation, with no identified oil-water contact, and average porosity of around 30%.
Reservoir oil samples have been recovered to surface with further analysis to follow to determine the quality of the oil and the recoverable resource range. At present, Catalyst assesses volumes at 15-50 MMboe, in line with pre-drill estimates.
Partner Faroe Petroleum added that logging-while-drilling and pressure analysis indicates a significant underlying zone of residual hydrocarbons beneath Plantain’s thin oil column.
The company also pointed out that the location is around 12 km (7.5 mi) from the Apache-operated Beryl Bravo facility to the southwest, and the Alvheim FPSO in Norwegian waters, 14 km (8.7 mi) to the southeast.
Nick Terrell, managing director of Azinor Catalyst, said: “This success represents a significant step forward for Catalyst and for our Agar-Plantain asset. Given the proximity to local infrastructure, the shallow reservoir depths and significant upside on the block, this is shaping up to be a highly attractive project for us.”
Henry Morris, the company’s technical director, commented: “Our upfront investment in a large high-quality seismic database, integrated with quantitative geoscience, has proven invaluable. Next year we plan to drill three-high quality prospects – Goose, Boaz, and Hinson – all of which have been defined and de-risked using similar forensic geoscientific techniques.”
Cairn Energy, the other partner in the well, has an option to assume operatorship of future activity on the Agar-Plantain project.
In June the company farmed into license P1763, acquiring a 50% interest from Catalyst within the Sole Risk (Plantain-Agar) Area and 25% within the wider license area operated by Apache (50%). Faroe Petroleum also farmed into the Sole Risk Area with 25% and 12.5% in the wider license.
11/15/2018
