UK, Norway approve Blane field development

July 6, 2005
Paladin Expro Ltd. and its partners have received approval from the UK and Norwegian governments for development of Blane oil field, which spans the UK and Norway median line on UKCS Block 30/3a in License P.111 and NCS Block N1/2 in License PL143BS.

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, July 6 -- Paladin Expro Ltd. and its partners have received approval from the UK and Norwegian governments for development of Blane oil field, which spans the UK and Norway median line on UKCS Block 30/3a in License P.111 and NCS Block N1/2 in License PL143BS.

Blane field was discovered in 1989 by well N1/2-1, which encountered oil in Palaeocene Upper Forties sandstone. The structure was appraised by the 30/3a-1 well in the UK sector.

The field has been unitized across the median line and will be developed, at a cost of £165 million, by three subsea wells connected to the BP PLC-operated Ula Platform, 34 km northeast of Blane on Norwegian Block 7/12. Oil will move from Ula through existing infrastructure and sold at Teesside, UK, while associated gas will be sold offshore at Ula. Production will start in late 2006, peaking at more than 14,000 b/d of oil.

The field is operated by Paladin, which holds 25% interest. Partners include Bow Valley Petroleum (UK) Ltd. 12.5%, MOC Exploration (UK) Ltd. 14%, ENI UK Ltd. 13.9%, ENI ULX Ltd. 4.1%, Roc Oil (GB) Ltd. 12.5%, Paladin Resources Norge AS 11.7%, and Talisman Energy Norge AS 6.3%.