Butch South West exploration well begins drilling in Norwegian North Sea

June 2, 2014
Faroe Petroleum has announced the spudding of the Centrica-operated Butch South West exploration well 8/10-6S.

Offshore staff

ABERDEEN, UKFaroe Petroleum has announced the spudding of the Centrica-operated Butch South West exploration well 8/10-6S (Faroe 15%). Butch South West, which is adjacent to the company’s 2011 Butch discovery, is in 65 m (213 ft) water depth in the Norwegian North Sea, close to significant existing infrastructure with the giant Ula field approximately 7 km (4 mi) to the northwest, Tambar approximately 10 km (6 mi) to the southwest, and Gyda approximately 20 km (12 mi) to the south.

The Butch Main oil discovery was made in late 2011 and contains a light crude oil in reservoir in the Upper Jurassic reservoir of the Ula formation. The Butch South West exploration well is in a separate segment from both the Butch East well, the results of which were announced on May 12, and the Butch Main well.

The operator is currently working on a development plan for the Butch Main discovery, in parallel with drilling the Butch South West well. If Butch South West is successful, Faroe says the development has the potential to become a stand-alone design.

The Butch license drilling operations are operated by Centrica (40%) using theMaersk Giant jackup drilling rig, together with the other joint venture partners Suncor Norge AS (30%) and Tullow Oil Norge AS (15%).

06/02/2014