Partners to press ahead with North Sea Blythe, Skipper projects

Offshore staff

LONDON – Alpha Petroleum (UK) Holdings is expected to complete the acquisition of shares in ATP Oil & Gas UK next Monday.

At that point, Britain’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) will extend theSkipper and Blythe licenses in the UK northern North Sea by 18 months. Both are held jointly by ATP and Independent Oil and Gas (IOG).

The partners are keen to speed up appraisal of the Skipper discovery and hope to drill a well this summer, pending shareholder approval and rig availability.

They also aim to finalize a development plan for theBlythe gas field for submission to the DECC, secure third-party agreements for the gas export route, and confirm site survey vessel availability.

ATP’s North Sea programs had been stalled by the financial problems of its parent company in the US.

Mark Routh, CEO of IOG, said: “In light of these important steps, we feel it is in the best interests of all parties for ATP UK to continue as operator. IOG will continue to support this work as an active and technically strong 50% partner.”

02/07/2014