BP makes two oil and gas discoveries in UK North Sea

January 31, 2018

British oil major BP on Wednesday announced two new exploration discoveries in the North Sea.

The discoveries are Capercaillie, in Block 29/4e in the Central North Sea, and Achmelvich, in Block 206/9b west of Shetland.

BP is 100% owner of Capercaillie and the Achmelvich well partnership comprises BP (operator, 52.6%), Shell (28%) and Chevron (19.4%). Both wells were drilled by the Transocean-owned Paul B. Loyd Junior rig in the summer of 2017.

The Capercaillie well was drilled to a total depth of 3,750 meters and encountered light oil and gas-condensate in Paleocene and Cretaceous-age reservoirs. The well data is currently under evaluation. Options are expected to be considered for a possible tie-back development to existing infrastructure.

The Achmelvich well was drilled to a total depth of 2,395 meters and encountered oil in Mesozoicage reservoirs. Evaluation and interpretation of the well results is ongoing to assess future options, BP said.

Mark Thomas, BP North Sea Regional President said: “These are exciting times for BP in the North Sea as we lay the foundations of a refreshed and revitalized business that we expect to double production to 200,000 barrels a day by 2020 and keep producing beyond 2050.

“We are hopeful that Capercaillie and Achmelvich may lead to further additions to our North Sea business, sitting alongside major developments like Quad 204, which came onstream in 2017, Clair Ridge, due to come into production this year, and the non-operated Culzean field, expected to start-up in 2019.”

Oil & Gas UK Chief Executive Deirdre Michie said: “BP’s exciting discovery marks a more positive start to 2018 for UK exploration.

“Our competitive fiscal terms, and the strides we have made to bring our finding costs in line with our peers, make the UK Continental Shelf a very attractive basin for doing business.

“While industry continues to build on its efficiency programme, Oil & Gas UK will continue to work closely with stakeholders to ensure no stone is left unturned in our efforts to maximize economic recovery from the basin.”