Shell updating interpretation of North Sea prospect following delivery of new seismic data

Oil major Shell has delivered the processed 3D seismic data over the Pensacola Zechstein Reef prospect located in the UK sector of the Southern North Sea ahead of drilling a well which is expected in 2H 2021.

The Pensacola prospect is located in Licence P2252 where Shell is the operator with a 70 per cent interest and Deltic Energy is its partner, holding the remaining 30 per cent interest.

Deltic said on Thursday that this broadband, pre-stack depth migration (Pre-SDM) data includes the new Bluewater seismic data, acquired with Shell in August 2019, merged with reprocessed legacy 3D data.

The application of proprietary advanced processing technologies has delivered a robust image over the Pensacola prospect, Deltic said.

The Deltic-Shell partnership is now working on updating the interpretation of the Pensacola structure and is committed to meeting its timelines under the licence terms, including the Contingent Well Commitment becoming firm on 1 December 2020.

Under the terms of the farm-out agreement with Shell, 100 per cent of Deltic’s costs including seismic acquisition, processing and technical workflows to support a well investment decision are being carried by Shell.

The Pensacola Reef is a significant undrilled structure which appears to be highly analogous to the Ossian prospect which was tested by the Darach Central-1 well, located approximately 45km to the east of Pensacola.

The well was successfully drilled and tested by ONE Dyas in 2019 and clearly demonstrated the potential for high-quality reservoirs to be present within Zechstein carbonates offshore.

Graham Swindells, CEO of Deltic, said: “It is great to get this new data over the Pensacola prospect and we are looking forward to continuing our work with Shell to progress the prospect towards drilling, which we expect to take place in the second half of 2021.

“Shell’s ability to redirect the required expertise, technologies and resources to this complex processing and interpretation project, while maintaining the original timeline, demonstrates the value of having such a high-quality partner when working on an emerging play like Pensacola”.

In related news, Deltic has significantly boosted gas volumes and decreased risk profile at the Selene prospect located in the UK North Sea.

Deltic revealed in June that, together with its partner Shell, it had remained committed to drilling the Selene prospect despite the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the market.