UK independent fractured basement reservoir explorer Hurricane Energy has started drilling on its Halifax well west of Shetland on the UK Continental Shelf.
The well, being drilled using the Transocean Spitsbergen semisubmersible drilling rig, could help prove that the firm's Lancaster field extends further than initially expected and follows on from a successful pilot well on the Lancaster field.
Hurricane, which recently agreed in principal a deal for a floating production unit to develop the Lancaster field, as part of an early production system, is expected to submit a development plan for Lancaster mid this year.
A previous well (205/23-2) drilled on the Halifax structure encountered oil and gas shows in sandstones immediately above the basement. In addition, Hurricane's analysis of basement cuttings from the 205/23-2 well indicated the presence of oil, mitigating the oil charge risk to Halifax.
Hurricane says its seismic interpretation indicates the presence of a well-defined fault network within the fractured basement of the Halifax prospect, analogous to that seen in Lancaster.
Hurricane plans to drill the Halifax well below local structural closure and will then perform an open hole drill stem test (DST), which, if successful, will see the firm drill deeper to investigate the oil water contact.
Under a heads of terms agreement, the Aoka Mizu FPSO, to be supplied by Bluewater Energy Services, will be used as an early production system on a first phase of development on the field. A contract is expected to be agreed ahead of Hurricane's expected sanction date for Lancaster, mid-2017.
The Aoka Mizu is the seventh Bluewater designed, built, owned FPSO. It has been deployed at the Ettrick and Blackbird fields for Nexen Petroleum UK since August 2009.
In 2015, Nexen confirmed plans to start decommissioning the Ettrick and the nearby Blackbird fields in the Outer Moray Firth, 75 miles northeast of Aberdeen, with work starting this year. Since its removal from the field, the FPSO has been at the Remontowa yard in Poland.
Hurricane's previous well, on the Lincoln structure, could see a future tieback into the Lancaster development.
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