Azinor Catalyst awards drilling contract for two wells on the UKCS
LONDON -- Azinor Catalyst Limited (Catalyst), the Seacrest Capital Group-backed E&P company focused on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS), has announced that it has awarded a rig contract to Diamond Offshore Drilling (UK) Limited for the Ocean Guardian semisubmersible rig to drill two operated wells during third-quarter 2017. The first exploration well will target the Partridge prospect, which will be immediately followed by an appraisal well to test the Agar discovery and Plantain prospect.
The Partridge prospect
Catalyst acquired a 100% operated interest in blocks 14/11a, 14/12a and 14/16a, which contain the Partridge prospect, in December 2015. Drilling of the Partridge exploration well is expected to take approximately 25 days.
The Partridge prospect’s pre-drill recoverable volumes have been estimated at 119 MMboe in the mid-case, with an upside case of 260 MMboe. The prospect has a relatively shallow and normally pressured reservoir and is located within the Jura sub-basin of the Outer Moray Firth, adjacent to Scapa, Claymore and Athena oil fields.
The prospect is a large structurally controlled stratigraphic trap comprising deepwater mass flow sands of the Lower Cretaceous Scapa Sandstone Member and has an associated direct hydrocarbon indicator. This seismic signature is directly analogous to the one observed in the Lower Cretaceous sands at the producing Scapa and Claymore fields.
The Agar discovery and Plantain prospect
Catalyst holds a 50% interest in blocks 9/9d and 9/14a, which contain the Agar discovery and Plantain prospect. Catalyst made the Agar discovery in 2014 with the 9/14a-15A exploration well, which encountered a 33-ft column (oil-down-to) in high-quality Eocene Frigg Formation sands. Agar and Plantain have estimated combined mid-case resources of 60 MMboe, with an upside case of 98 MMboe. Located in the South Viking Graben, Agar and Plantain are c.12 km east of Apache’s Beryl field and c.14 km west of Aker BP’s Alvheim hub. Drilling of the Agar appraisal well is expected to take approximately 35 days and includes a sidetrack to test the Plantain prospect.
