Skarfjell Appraisal Well

RNS Number : 6866X

Cairn Energy PLC

15 January 2014

 

                                                                                                                                15 January 2014              

CAIRN ENERGY PLC ("Cairn")

Skarfjell Appraisal Well

The enclosed announcement has been issued by Wintershall Norge AS (35%; operator) with regard to the Skarfjell appraisal well in licence PL418 (Norwegian North Sea) in which Cairn has a 20% interest.

Enquiries:

Analysts/Investors David Nisbet, Corporate Affairs	Tel: [phone]
Media Patrick Handley, David Litterick Brunswick Group LLP	Tel: [phone]

Delineation of the 35/9-7 oil discovery - 35/9-10 S and 35/9-10 A

15.01.2014

Wintershall Norge AS, operator of production licence 418, is about to complete drilling of appraisal wells 35/9-10 S and A on the 35/9-7 oil discovery (Skarfjell).

The appraisal wells are being drilled in the North Sea, about 40 kilometres north of the Troll field and two kilometres southeast of the discovery well.

The discovery was proven in the spring of 2012 in two Late Jurassic sandstone layers in the Heather formation. Appraisal well 35/9-10 S was drilled in the southeastern part of the "Skarfjell structure" and sidetrack 35/9-10 A near the top of the structure in the southwestern part. Before well 35/9-10 S was drilled, the resource estimate for the discovery was between 10 and 25 million standard cubic metres (Sm³) of recoverable oil.

The objective of the two wells was to examine thickness, properties, fluid content and depth to the Upper Jurassic reservoir to define the extent of the discovery to the south, and clarify whether the discovery has a gas cap.

Well 35/9-10 S encountered a 13-metre (gross) gas column and an oil column of 49 metres (gross) in three thin sandstones in the upper "Intra Heather" with reservoir quality as expected. Pressure data shows that this area has a lower reservoir pressure and is not in direct communication with the western and northern part of the discovery.

Well 35/9-10 A encountered a 59-metre (gross) gas column in the upper "Intra Heather" sandstone with better than expected reservoir quality. Pressure data indicates that the proven gas cap is in communication with the oil zone proven in 35/9-7 and in appraisal well 35/9-8 in the northern part of the discovery. The lower "Intra Heather" sandstone is only four metres thick, contains oil and has poorer reservoir quality than expected.

Preliminary calculations place the size of the discovery between 10 and 23 million Sm³ of recoverable oil and condensate, and between 8 and 15 billion Sm³ of recoverable gas.

The wells were not formation-tested, but extensive data acquisition and sampling have been carried out.

The licensees will assess the discovery together with other nearby discoveries for possible development solutions.

This is the third exploration well in production licence 418 (link to fact page). The licence was awarded in APA 2006.

Appraisal well 35/9-10 S was drilled to a vertical and measured depth of 2837 and 3595 metres below the sea surface, respectively. Appraisal well 35/9-10 A was drilled to a vertical and measured depth of 2835 and 3179 metres below the sea surface, respectively. Both wells were terminated in the Rannoch formation in the Middle Jurassic.

Water depth is 365 metres. The wells will be plugged and abandoned.

The wells were drilled by Transocean Arctic, which will proceed to production licence 586 in the Norwegian Sea to drill wildcat well 6406/12-3 S where VNG Norge AS is the operator.

Contact in the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate
Eldbjørg Vaage Melberg, tel.+ 47 51 87 61 00

NOTES TO EDITORS

Cairn Energy PLC ("Cairn") is one of Europe's leading independent oil and gas exploration and development companies and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Cairn has discovered and developed oil and gas reserves in a variety of locations around the world.

Cairn's business operations are now focused on frontier exploration acreage in Morocco, Senegal, Republic of Ireland, Greenland, Mauritania and the Mediterranean along with exploration and pre-development interests in the North Sea. Cairn has its headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland supported by operational offices in London, Greenland, Norway, Spain, Morocco and Senegal. 

Cairn and Corporate Responsibility

Ø Cairn is a signatory to the UN Global Compact and our core values of respect, responsibility, relationships and our commitments towards people, the environment and society are enshrined in our Business Principles, which are available on the Cairn website at http://www.cairnenergy.com/index.asp?pageid=282

Ø Cairn became a participating company in the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) in September 2013. The EITI is a coalition of governments, companies and civil society, who have adopted a multi-stakeholder approach to applying the EITI global standard promoting transparency of payments in the oil, gas and mining sectors http://eiti.org/

For further information on Cairn please see: www.cairnenergy.com

 

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