Cluff boosts Southern North Sea resources

London-based investment company Cluff Natural Resources (CLNR) has increased its resources in the Southern North Sea license following receipt of recently reprocessed 3D seismic data.

The company on Thursday reported a ‘significant increase’ in P50 Prospective Resources on its 100% owned License P2252 from 162 BCF to 636 BCF following technical work focusing on the Zechstein prospects located in the Southern North Sea.

This increase is primarily due to the newly named Pensacola Prospect, which the company estimates to have P50 Prospective Resources of 424 BCF, providing significant exploration upside potential on the license.

Algy Cluff, Chief Executive & Chairman commented: “We are delighted that our continued technical focus on these core licenses continues to de-risk known gas prospects and enhance the exploration upside contained within the portfolio. The company has a 100% equity position in its highly prospective licenses in the Southern North Sea which deserve to be fully appraised. We are confident that the quality and scale of these assets will continue to attract the interest of existing operators and potential new entrants as we progress through the farm-out process.”

The work

The work, which was based on reprocessed geophysical datasets not available at the time of the company’s initial Competent Person’s Report released in December 2015, has resulted in a significant resource upgrade on the Lytham and Fairhaven prospects and highlighted major exploration upside potential in the form of a Zechstein reef build-up, similar to those indicated at the nearby Crosgan discovery and the Ossian and Aurora prospects.

According to the company’s report, the acquisition of recently reprocessed 3-D seismic has provided a greater level of confidence in the mapping of the Lytham and Fairhaven Zechstein (Fractured Hauptdolomite) Prospects where previous exploration wells by third parties indicated significantly elevated levels of gas during drilling operations. This revised mapping and comparison with close analogues within the basin, such as the giant Hewett Field, has allowed a revised assessment of the estimated gas volumes associated with these structures which has increased the combined P50 Prospective Resources on this prospect from 94 BCF to 168 BCF, Cluff said.

Additionally, the company stated, the new 3-D seismic data set has also allowed for a revised interpretation of the St. Annes lead highlighted previously. It is now believed that these leads form the outer edge of a larger circular patch reef complex, now named the Pensacola Prospect, similar to those seen on adjacent blocks to the east. These patch reefs are analogous to producing fields in Poland and the US and have the potential to contain significant gas volumes and high quality reservoirs. The company estimates that the Pensacola Prospect has P50 Prospective Resources of 424 BCF between the reef margin which has the potential to contain high quality reservoir facies and the internal lagoon sediments which are potentially more variable in terms of overall reservoir quality.

The report about the increase in prospective resources on the License P2252 comes less than two months after the company confirmed a ‘substantial’ increase in prospective resources for its 100% held License P2248 (Block 43/11), also located in the Southern North Sea.