Noble rig getting ready to drill in North Sea for RockRose

UK-based oil and gas company RockRose Energy has informed that the Noble Houston Colbert jack-up drilling rig is preparing to drill the first of two planned infill development wells on the West Brae in the UK North Sea. 

RockRose is the operator of West Brae, in which it has a 40% working interest. RockRose bought the Brae interest earlier this year in a deal with Marathon Oil.

Announcing its development drilling campaign on Wednesday, RockRose said that the designated WPGZ and WPOZ wells were designed to access 2P reserves of over 8 MMbbl (gross) and to support Brae Complex output by up to 6,000 bopd (gross). WPGZ is expected to come onstream before the end of the first quarter of 2020 while the first oil from WPOZ is anticipated in the second quarter of 2020.

According to the company, the drilling of WPGZ marks the start of a significant period of development activity for RockRose, with the company set to participate in at least seven wells before the end of 2020. These will help drive production growth over the next two years and further investment in growth projects is anticipated in 2021 and 2022.

A four-well drilling campaign is scheduled to start at the Shell-operated Arran gas/condensate field development in the first quarter of 2020. RockRose has a 30.4% working interest in Arran, which remains on schedule for first gas in early 2021.

In addition, the first of two infill wells planned as part of the Blake life extension project will be drilled in the second half of 2020. RockRose has a 30.8% working interest in Blake.

Commenting, Andrew Austin, RockRose, Executive Chairman, said: “The spudding of WPGZ will represent just the start of a sustained period of drilling activity for RockRose. This will add significant production and value to the Company, as we continue to deliver on our strategy; growing production and generating surplus cash flow that can be reinvested to maximize returns for shareholders.”

The Brae Complex lies approximately 220 kilometers north-east of Aberdeen in a water depth of approximately 110 meters. It consists of three RockRose-operated fixed platforms, three subsea tie-backs, numerous pipelines, and other subsea components.

The Brae Alpha platform was commissioned in 1983, initially producing from South Brae, while Central Brae and West Brae were tied-back subsequently.

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