After drilling ops with Valaris rig, gas flows from North Sea well

Perenco UK, a subsidiary of Perenco Group, has brought on stream a near-field discovery within the Ravenspurn South area of the Southern North Sea, boosting its gas production on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS).

The start-up of gas production from Perenco’s 42/30-C06 well comes after the well was drilled and completed with the Valaris 247 jack-up rig during Q4 2023. In January 2023, a 180-day contract with one 60-day option was inked with Perenco in the UK North Sea for the rig. The deal was scheduled to start in March 2023 and last until September 2023. The Valaris 247 rig can accommodate 140 people and its maximum drilling depth is 35,000 ft.

Jo White, General Manager of Perenco UK, commented: “These positive results from Ravenspurn South, coming shortly after the recent success at Ravenspurn North, bring a meaningful increase to Perenco UK’s operated production, and open the door for the further development of tight gas reservoirs in Perenco’s Southern North Sea assets.”

The drilling activities were done in 48 m water depth, bringing an estimated reserve addition of around 20 bcf to 40 bcf from a previously undrilled block at the northeastern edge of the Ravenspurn South field. According to Perenco, the well was initially connected to a well test package, allowing measurement of the gas rate at 12 mmscf/d – 2 kboepd – while sending dry gas to the Cleeton Hub and onwards to the Dimlington terminal on the Yorkshire coast.

The company highlights that the C06 well will be connected to its operated production network with new permanent pipework on the RSC topsides in early March 2024. Combined with the recent start-ups of new wells D15 and D16 in the Ravenspurn North field, these three new wells drilled with the Valaris-247 rig bring an additional 40 mmscf/d, representing around a 20% rise in Perenco’s operated production in the Southern North Sea.

Perenco has been present in the UK Southern North Sea Basin since 2003. The firm, which processes almost 15% of Britain’s national gas production in the North Sea, owns and operates 45 offshore platforms, 14 subsea wells, and a network of more than 2,400 km of pipelines connected to its two onshore terminals at Bacton and Dimlington where the gas is received, treated, metered and then exported into the UK National Grid.

Perenco produces approximately 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the UK. The company is also working on bolstering production levels from its international portfolio. To this end, the firm recently kicked off a five-well development drilling campaign at a field off the coast of Cameroon, Central Africa.