JOG Leads Study for Wider Greater Buchan Area Development

OE Staff Mar 16, 2020

Credit; Jersey Oil and Gas

UK-Focused oil firm Jersey Oil & Gas will lead the study aimed at forming a hub to potentially develop oil discoveries made by several operators in the Greater Buchan Area in the UK North Sea.

JOG said Monday has established and will lead the Greater Buchan Area Joint Integrated Studies Agreement between neighboring field operators, to undertake and complete technical and commercial evaluation studies for collaborative development of the wider Greater Buchan Area, which contains discovered oil and gas resources in excess of 200 million barrels of oil equivalent ("boe").

The discoveries include Buchan, J2 and Glenn - operated by Jersey Oil & Gas (100%); Verbier - operated by Equinor UK Limited (70%) (a stake soon to be re-acquired by JOG) alongside its partners Jersey Petroleum Limited (18%) and CIECO Exploration and Production Limited (12%); Avalon - operated by Ping Petroleum UK Limited (50%) alongside its partner Summit Exploration and Production Limited (50%); and Leverett - operated by Zennor Resources (N.I.) Limited (100%).

The key objective of the studies under the agreement is to establish whether a collaborative development would lead to a reduction in development costs and an increase in value for all participants in a new production hub in the area, potentially including electrification in line with the Oil & Gas Authority's ("OGA") Maximising Economic Recovery ("MER") strategy for the UKCS and reducing CO2 emissions.

Andrew Benitz, CEO of Jersey Oil and Gas, commented: "We are delighted to be progressing this important study to evaluate the technical and commercial benefits of working together with neighboring operators to potentially develop over 200 million boe of discovered oil and gas within the wider Greater Buchan Area."

Scott Robertson, Director of Operations at the OGA said: "I am delighted with this collaboration agreement in the Greater Buchan Area, particularly given collaboration was a key component of the OGA's vision for the Greater Buchan Area through the 31st Supplementary Licensing Round award in 2019. Oil and gas will remain an important part of the UK's energy mix for the foreseeable future as we transition to net zero. The OGA is encouraged by the collaborative and energy-efficient example Jersey Oil & Gas is setting."