Apache makes ‘significant’ North Sea oil discovery

Oil and gas company Apache has made a ‘significant’ oil discovery on Block 9/18a Area-W in the UK sector of the North Sea.

Apache said that the discovery on the prospect named Garten was located on the Beryl field, six kilometers south of the Beryl Alpha Platform.

The Garten discovery well targeted a downthrown structural closure and encountered more than 700 feet of net oil pay in stacked, high quality Jurassic-aged sandstone reservoirs.

Recoverable resource is expected to exceed 10 million barrels of light oil, which is at the high end of predrill estimates. Apache has a 100 percent working interest in the Garten block.

John J. Christmann IV, Apache’s CEO and president, said: “The Garten discovery marks our fourth commercial discovery in the Beryl area in the past three years spanning several play types ranging from the Tertiary to the Triassic.”

The company added that the Garten discovery well would be suspended as a future producer and tied back to the Beryl Alpha platform. Apache is working closely with the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) to obtain the regulatory approvals to initiate production, which is anticipated in the first quarter of 2019.

Andy Samuel, chief executive at OGA, said: “Garten marks the 2500th offshore exploration well on the UK Continental Shelf and is an excellent start for exploration drilling in 2018.

“Apache has created new opportunities by consistently investing in high-quality 3D seismic data to uncover near-field prospectivity around the prolific Beryl Field. Modern data and the application of new technologies are key to stimulating exploration and successfully delivering the full potential of the UKCS.”

The Beryl field and associated infrastructure (Alpha and Bravo platforms and facilities), and the nearby associated Ness, Nevis, Buckland, and Skene fields, are located 335 kilometers northeast of Aberdeen.