Offshore staff
EDINBURGH, UK – Cairn Energy says its main exploration focus offshore Greenland this year will be on its Pitu license in the Baffin Bay area, which Statoil agreed to farm into in January.
Last summer Cairn commissioned 3D seismic and geochemical seabed sampling surveys over this license, which covers a large part of the undrilled Melville Bay basin and adjacent ridge.
Early processing of the 3D data has confirmed seismic amplitude anomalies evident from the existing 2D data. Cairn claims that these and newly identified geochemical anomalies indicate the ridge is prospective for oil and gas migration. A large dip closure has been mapped over the crest of the ridge with an associated, structurally conformable seismic amplitude anomaly.
The fully processed should be delivered in mid-2012, and will be used to mature prospects for drilling over both the mapped closure and over various satellite structures identified downflank.
Other plays in axial and flank fan systems, possible Paleozoic reef structures and rotated fault blocks will also be evaluated, and further geochemical seabed sampling is planned to cover an independent Tertiary inversion play identified on the basin’s eastern flank.
Elsewhere, Cairn is participating in a Shell-operated consortium that will drill up to 10 shallow stratigraphic cored bore holes in the far north of Baffin Bay where the entire prospective Mesozoic and Paleozoic section appears to sub-crop the seabed. Data from these cored holes, the company says, will help de-risk prospects in the Pitu block prior to drilling as well as optimizing future well design.
In Greenland’s offshore West Disko and Ungava areas, Cairn plans rigless well abandonment operations on wells it drilled during 2010 and2011, at the same time continuing interpretation of the well results.
Off southern Greenland, the company will focus on working up prospects on the large structures identified by 3D seismic acquired last year.
3/20/2012
