Spirit Energy has announced it will drill a new well in the Grove North East area which, if successful, could extend the life of the Grove field by five years to 2028.
Neil McCulloch, Executive Vice President of Technical and Operated Assets at Spirit Energy, commented, “The infill well is planned to target the un-appraised north-eastern limb of the Grove field and has the potential of delivering 4.2 million barrels of oil equivalent net additional reserves. Further, it could add five new years to the life of the Grove field and improve the prospect of additional opportunities in the area.”
Options available:
Several concept solutions have been studied, including horizontal, simple vertical and platform deviated wells, subsea tie-back concepts as well as an appraisal well before the development well from the platform.
McCulloch said: “Based on the subsurface, well technical complexity, value and strategic fit criteria, we have decided on a platform deviated well. We believe this is the optimal way forward and a robust well design has been developed – our team is experienced in drilling similar wells in the Southern North Sea, including other wells in the Grove area.”
Maersk Resolve:
The development well will be drilled by the harsh-environment, Gusto-engineered MSC CJ50 jack-up rig ‘Maersk Resolve’, which recently completed a campaign offshore the Netherlands. Operator, Maersk Drilling, was awarded the contract worth around US$11.3mn with additional services of mobilisation, demobilisation and an option to add plugging and abandonment of one well.
Morten Kelstrup, Chief Operating Officer of Maersk Drilling, commented, “We are excited to be able to build on our relationship with Spirit Energy with our first UK well for the customer, for whom we previously completed a highly successful subsea development campaign in Norway. We will surely be able to continue our close collaboration and mutual focus on operational excellence, and in addition the campaign at Grove will benefit from Maersk Resolve’s experience with safely and efficiently drilling challenging Zechstein formations as part of the rig’s latest assignment in Dutch waters.”
Drilling is scheduled to start in Q1 2021, with production expected to begin by Q3 2021. Alistair Macfarlane, Area Manager for SNS & EIS at the Oil and Gas Authority, said, “After a challenging time for the industry in 2020, we welcome this positive news for the basin, with activity at the Grove field bringing opportunities for the UK’s supply chain.”
