Premier cheers Tolmount East well success

Oil and gas company Premier Oil has cheered the success of the Tolmount East well located in the UK Southern Gas Basin. 

The well 42/28d-14 is in P1330, Block 42/28d where Premier has a 50 percent operated interest. The well was drilled using the Valaris JU-123 rig, formerly known as Ensco 123. The rig’s contract with Premier expires in December 2019. After that, the rig will again work for Premier staring in June 2020 until July 2021.

The Tolmount East well was targeting 220 BCF of P50 gross resource, in an undrilled area four kilometres east of the 500 BCF Tolmount gas field.

Premier said on Thursday that the well penetrated 241 feet of gas bearing high quality Leman sands with a net-to-gross ratio of 71%, porosity of 16% and gas saturation of 82%. The quality and thickness of reservoir sands encountered are at the upper end of expectations and no gas water contact was penetrated.

A full Logging-While-Drilling and wireline acquisition program was undertaken, including extensive pressure data and fluid sampling. The reservoir section was successfully cored with 216 feet being recovered.

The oil company said that the well data would now be integrated with the new 3D seismic dataset as part of the fast-track development planning for Tolmount East. This is already well advanced ahead of project sanction targeted for the second half of 2020.

This well result also has positive implications for other targets within the Greater Tolmount area, including Tolmount Far East and the Mongour discovery, according to Premier.

Tony Durrant, CEO, commented: “We are delighted with this commercial discovery at Tolmount East, the development of which will add significant value to our UK portfolio. Elsewhere in the Greater Tolmount Area, we are making excellent progress with our sanctioned Tolmount development which remains on schedule for first gas by the end of next year and will add a net 20,000 to 25,000 boepd to Group production.”

The construction of the platform for the Tolmount Main gas project began in Rosetti Marino’s Ravenna yard in December.

Earlier this month, ODE Asset Management was appointed as an installation operator of the Tolmount platform.