CNOOC drills duster offshore UK

CNOOC Petroleum Europe Limited has drilled a dry well located West of Shetland.

CNOOC Petroleum Europe Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited, confirmed to Offshore Energy Today on Thursday it had drilled and completed its Howick exploration well, 206/21-1, located West of Shetland.

The well was safely plugged and abandoned with dry hole status, the company added.

According to information on Bassoe Offshore, the Howick well was drilled using the Island Innovator semi-submersible drilling rig with a dayrate of $160,000. The rig’s contract with CNOOC is set to expire in November 2019.

Elsewhere in the UK, the CNOOC Petroleum Europe Limited-operated Buzzard field remains shut in more than a week after its second shutdown this month. The field is located about 96 kilometers northeast of Aberdeen, in approximately 96 meters of water.

In related news, CNOOC Limited on Thursday reported it had achieved a total net production of 124.8 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) for the third quarter of 2019, representing an increase of 9.7% year over year.

Production from offshore China increased 8.9% YoY to 80.2 million BOE, mainly attributable to production growth from the start-up of new projects. Overseas production increased 11.2% YoY to 44.6 million BOE, mainly due to the contribution from the new projects of Egina and Appomattox.

During the period, the company made three new discoveries and drilled 19 successful appraisal wells. In offshore China, Kenli 6-1 in Bohai was successfully appraised and is expected to be a mid-sized oil and gas structure. In Guyana, the new discovery of Tripletail was made in the Stabroek block, which is the fourteenth oil discovery achieved in the block and will support the future development of the Turbot area.

On development and production, three out of six new projects planned for this year have commenced production. Bozhong 34-9 oil field, Caofeidian 11-1/11-6 comprehensive adjustment project and Wenchang 13-2 comprehensive adjustment project are undergoing offshore commissioning.

Offshore Energy Today Staff

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