OGA Hails 'Significant' Glengorm Discovery

The UK’s Oil and Gas Authority called the significant Glengorm discovery “one of the biggest finds” in the UK Continental Shelf in recent years.

The find was announced by China National Offshore Oil Corp., or CNOOC Group, and is located in the Central North Sea of the UKCS.

“This is very exciting news; Glengorm was first mapped as a prospect around 20 years ago and it is great to see CNOOC taking up the exploration opportunity and completing a difficult high-pressure, high-temperature exploration well,” said Andy Samuel OGA chief executive.

 

License P2215

The find is expected to revive breakbulk prospects for North Sea operators, as CNOOC aims to ramp up production from the field, located in License P2215 with a water depth of about 86 meters.

“Glengorm discovery demonstrates the great exploration potential of License P2215. We are looking forward to further appraisal,” said Xie Yuhong, executive vice president at CNOOC.

The Glengorm exploration well was drilled to a total depth of 5,056 meters and encountered net gas and condensate pay zones with a total thickness of 37.6 meters. CNOOC Group is China's third-largest national oil company, and focuses on the exploration and development of offshore crude oil and natural gas.

 

Up to 20 billion barrels in UKCS                                   

OGA estimates there remains 10 billion to 20 billion barrels to be recovered in the UKCS and is optimistic of further finds, provided industry “can increase exploration drilling and capitalize on the real value to be had here in the UK.”

“The North Sea has proven once again that it is a world-class petroleum basin, and its exploration history is a long way from being over," said Nick Richardson, OGA head of exploration and new ventures. "Those companies that have a bullish attitude and have kept the faith in the UK’s oil and gas sector’s fundamentals will continue to reap the rewards that others have missed.”

The OGA said it will take on ownership of the new National Data Repository in February 2019, which will for the first-time open-up the UKCS’s released subsurface data to the public.

Photo: North Sea rig. Credit: Wikimedia