IOG spuds Blythe development well ahead of first gas

UK gas company IOG plc has started drilling the Blythe development well located in the UK North Sea ahead of the first gas from the Blythe Hub planned for 4Q 2021.

Following Elgood, Blythe is the second development well in IOG’s Phase 1 project and is expected to take under three months to drill and complete, after which the rig will move on to Southwark, IOG said on Tuesday.

The Elgood development well was spud in April and completed in July 2021. IOG achieved successful flow test results at Elgood, but experienced mechanical challenges during drilling operations, which resulted in an extended duration.

In the update on Tuesday, IOG said that the Noble Hans Deul jack-up rig mobilised from the Elgood field location on 27 July and jacked up at the Blythe platform on 29 July. After preparations for drilling the Blythe well spudded on 2 August.

Andrew Hockey, CEO of IOG, commented: “We are pleased to have moved safely over from Elgood to spud the next development well at Blythe, another important step for IOG in delivering our Phase 1 project. The Blythe well has been meticulously planned by the IOG drilling, subsurface, subsea and HSE teams in collaboration with our main drilling contractors Noble Corporation, Petrofac and Schlumberger, our Platform Duty Holder ODE Asset Management and our partner CalEnergy Resources (UK) Limited and fully integrates the learnings from the Elgood well.

“We have a very clear collective focus on ensuring safe and efficient performance leading successfully to first gas in Q4 2021 from the Blythe Hub before continuing into 2022 at Southwark”.