Offshore staff
LONDON – The Transocean semisubmersible Sedco 704 has completed an appraisal well for Independent Oil and Gas (IOG) on the Skipper oil discovery in block 9/21a in the UK northern North Sea.
The well, drilled to a TVD of 5,578 ft (1,700 m), achieved IOG’s prime aim of retrieving good-quality reservoir condition oil samples from the reservoir in order to optimize the Skipper field development plan.
Oil viscosity of the samples appears likely to be within the anticipated 50cP-150cP range, better than Competent Persons Report estimates. If these properties are confirmed the development will require fewer wells thereby improving the project’s economics.
A secondary goal was to drill two mapped reservoir structures beneath Skipper in the Lower Dornoch and Maureen formations, but these were dry, so the well will now be P&A’d.
IOG has thereby fulfilled its initial drilling commitment for license P1609.
CEO Mark Routh said: “Whilst the exploration prospects did not encounter hydrocarbons, I am increasingly confident that the commerciality of the Skipper field has been confirmed now that we have the data we need to progress to the field development planning.”
08/19/2016
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