Chevron to appraise Rosebank west of Shetland

Offshore staff

ABERDEEN, UK --Chevron and its partners are investing $327 million to appraise the Rosebank oil discovery west of Shetland.

According to Rick Cohagan, Chevron Upstream Europe president, speaking in the company's in-house magazineInsight - the recently drilled second well encountered over 80 ft (24 m) of vertical oil pay in sands at a depth of around 9,000 ft (2,743 m). However, volcanic elements in those sands are making it difficult to extract an accurate seismic image.

Chevron's global exploration strategy includes strengthening its portfolio in northern European regions, from the Barents Sea west to Greenland. The company is part of a consortium led by DONG Energy which has applied for block 4, covering 12,000 sq km (4,633 sq mi) offshore Greenland's west coast in the Baffin Sea.

Greenland's Joint Committee on Mineral Resources looks set to award the consortium the license, under the Disko West licensing round. The ruling then has to be ratified by the country's administration and the Danish parliament.

11/15/2007