By the OGJ Online Staff
LONDON, July 13 -- PanCanadian Petroleum UK Ltd. Friday signed a letter of intent with Fred. Olsen Energy ASA for a rig to drill at least two wells to appraise the recent Buzzard discovery in the central UK North Sea.
Under a deal worth some £5 million, the Norwegian drilling contractor will drill two wells that are not high-temperature, high-pressure, with an option for a further two with the Borgny Dolphin rig. The contract, which remains subject to approval, is scheduled to start in October.
PanCanadian recently said a sidetrack well drilled on Buzzard had confirmed a hydrocarbon accumulation "on par with the top tier" on the UK continental shelf with between 200-300 million bbl of oil (OGJ Online, July 5, 2001).
The discovery, 100 km northeast of Aberdeen, was drilled in 320 ft of water. It tested flow rates of 6,547 b/d of light oil and 970 Mscfd of gas on a 36/64-in. choke.
Buzzard is on license P986, awarded to PanCanadian and its partners in the 18th UK licensing round in 1998. PanCanadian holds a 45.01% of the license, Intrepid Energy North Sea Ltd. 30%, BG Group PLC 19.99%, and Edinburgh Oil & Gas PLC 5%.
