Offshore staff

BANCHORY, UK – Drilling of the 9/3b-7z well on the Bentley oil field in the UK North Sea has reached target depth of 9,646 ft (2,940 m) MD, according to operator Xcite Energy.

A reservoir section of more than 2,000 ft (609 m) has been drilled with 100% net pay, and sand control screens have been run. The top reservoir, at 3,609 ft (1,100 m) TVD, is higher than levels previously encountered in any part of the field, giving an oil column depth of roughly 121 ft (37 m).

Geo-steering has deployed successfully in the reservoir section to place nearly 100% of the wellbore in the target range of 5-12 ft (1.5-3.6 m) from the roof of the reservoir. 

Remaining planned operations include installation of the smart completion equipment (allowing individual laterals to be flowed, co-mingled, or shut-in), the downhole pumps, and commissioning of processing equipment. All will be undertaken prior to start of the production test.

Steve Kew, exploration and development director, said: “The upper lateral [is] now ideally positioned as the first production well for Phase 1B of the Bentley development program. The additional oil column encountered will be assessed and modelled in due course.”

6/13/2012