After finding gas in one UK North Sea well, Petrogas moves to drill another

Petrogas North Sea, a subsidiary of Oman-based Petrogas E&P, has made a gas discovery in an exploration well in the Southern North Sea.

Forming part of license P2433, the well is located at the Baker field on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) block 47/3f-16, 37 kilometers from the English coastline in Yorkshire. The exploration well was drilled using the Noble Resilient jack-up rig to a depth of 3,457 meters, with gas encountered in the Rotliegendes.

The well results are described as “significantly better than expected, with improved reservoir characteristics” compared to the predictions. While this well has been plugged and abandoned, Petrogas will now move the Noble Resilient rig to the nearby Abbey gas field in block 47/3i to drill an appraisal well. The UK’s Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning issued screening directions in July and October for Baker, valid from August 1, 2024, to January 31, 2025, and Abbey, valid from October 20, 2024, to January 31, 2025, respectively.

Kingsuk Sen, CEO of Petrogas Group, said: “We are very excited with this gas discovery and I’m proud that the Petrogas team has delivered our first offshore Exploration discovery safely. I look forward to the team integrating Baker with the Abbey Field and bring them both towards development.”

The 2009-built Noble Resilient jack-up rig is of Gusto MSC CJ50 X100 MC design. With a maximum drilling depth of 30,000 ft, it can operate in water depths of up to 350 ft. In November 2023, Noble disclosed that Petrogas hired the jack-up rig for a 120-day assignment in the UK North Sea starting in Q3 2024. The two-well contract came with four one-well extension options.

Petrogas acquired a 70% stake in Baker and 85% in Abbey from Cornerstone Resources under a farm-out deal in 2022, becoming a 100% owner of both in the meantime. According to a 2022 competent persons report, Baker was estimated to hold 56 Bcf of resources.

The Omani player’s other subsidiary, Petrogas E&P Netherlands, recently started production on the B10 platform in the Dutch sector of the North Sea. This forms part of the Dutch firm’s Stage 2+ project, which also entails the A15 field that achieved its first production in February.