Independent Oil & Gas PLC (IOG), London, has provided an update on the drilling of the appraisal well on the Skipper oil discovery, which lies on Block 9/21a in license P1609 in the UK North Sea. IOG is 100% owner and operator of the field.
The Skipper well, which was drilled to 3,860 ft, achieved its primary well objective with good-quality reservoir condition oil samples retrieved from the field. Testing of the samples is due to be completed in September.
Drilling has started down to the two exploration prospects in the Lower Dornoch and Maureen formations beneath Skipper oil field. The total structures so far mapped are thought to contain 46 million bbl of oil in place.
Initial onboard observations during sampling confirm the oil to be mobile in the reservoir. This fulfils the primary well objective and will allow optimization of the development plan for Skipper field. Approval of a field development plan will be subject to funding, IOG board approval, and regulatory approvals.
After being spudded on July 23, the well experienced some operational challenges, which were unrelated to the reservoir. This required an early respudding of the well and therefore an increased overall well duration. “Also, in early August, we experienced a force 10 gale at the well location, which caused a suspension of operations for almost 2½ days for safety reasons,” IOG said.
IOG management estimates that the recoverable oil from Skipper is 34.1 million bbl based on a recovery factor of 25%.
