Parkmead expands interest in two North Sea oil fields

Independent oil and gas group Parkmead has increased its stake in the Perth and Dolphin oil fields in the UK Central North Sea. 

The Perth and Dolphin fields are located across Blocks 15/21a, b, c and f & 14/25a in Licences P.218, P.588 and P.2154. Through this growth step, Parkmead has increased its equity in these licenses to 60.05%.

The Perth and Dolphin fields, which are both operated by Parkmead, are at the core of Parkmead’s major Perth-Dolphin-Lowlander (PDL) oil hub project. They are located in the prolific Moray Firth area of the UK Central North Sea, which contains oil fields such as Piper, Claymore, and Tartan.

Perth and Dolphin are two sizeable Upper Jurassic Claymore sandstone accumulations that have tested 32-38o API oil at production rates of up to 6,000 bopd per well. As a result of this latest move, Parkmead has increased the group’s total proved and probable (2P) reserves by 19% from 23.5 to 27.9 million barrels of oil equivalent.

This transaction follows Parkmead’s recent acquisition of an additional 50% equity in the Polecat and Marten fields, announced in August 2016. Polecat and Marten have the potential to be highly valuable to Parkmead as, given their close proximity to PDL, they could be jointly developed as part of the Greater PDL Area project, the company explained.

PDL is one of the largest undeveloped oil projects in the North Sea. During 2014, a joint development study was carried out to assess the potential of a development of the Lowlander field with Perth and Dolphin. The analysis indicated that a joint development of the three fields could significantly increase the value of the Perth area project, Parkmead said.

The development of the Perth, Dolphin and Lowlander fields as a single project would create valuable economies of scale, by using the same dedicated production facilities, whilst providing a new long-term hub for other future projects in the area. The three fields have been fully appraised, with a combined total of 13 wells drilled, and contain oil in place of over 400 million barrels. It is expected that recoverable reserves from the PDL oil hub development will be over 80 million barrels of oil, which is double the initial recoverable reserves of the Perth field as a standalone project.

Tom Cross, Executive Chairman, commented: “We are delighted to have increased our stake in the Perth and Dolphin oil fields, which significantly increases Parkmead’s oil reserves by some 19%.

“This growth step strengthens Parkmead’s asset base in the center of the Company’s major PDL oil hub project, which is one of the largest undeveloped oil projects in the North Sea.”