Premier closing in on Catcher first oil

UK oil and gas company Premier Oil is well on its way to first oil from the Catcher development in the UK sector of the North Sea with the last of twelve wells currently being completed. 

The current well on the Premier-operated Catcher project, a Burgman field injection well (B12), has been drilled and is currently being completed, Premier said in an update on Monday.

The company noted that this is the last of the twelve wells scheduled for completion pre-first oil.

“As with other wells in the program, the well is currently ahead of time, under budget and with reservoir result ahead of prognosis. Ten of the twelve wells have been tied in, with the final two tie-ins scheduled ahead of first oil from the field,” the company added.

Once the current well is completed, Premier said the Catcher project will have delivered four wells on each of the Catcher, Varadero and Burgman fields ahead of schedule and the rig will then be moved back to Catcher at the end of August for the next batch of four production wells.

Earlier in July, the company said that the Catcher project was on schedule for 2017 first oil. The BW Offshore-owned FPSO, being built at Keppel’s shipyard in Singapore, was mechanically complete and final commissioning was well advanced prior to sailaway to the North Sea. The vessel is scheduled to sail away from Singapore to North Sea in August.

Premier last week completed its debt refinancing after months of talks with creditors, which gave the company a breathing space to focus on its currently most important project, the Catcher field development.

Offshore Energy Today Staff