UK: Trapoil Expects Athena Field P2 Well Repairs to Be Quick

Trapoil, the independent oil and gas exploration, appraisal and production company focused on the UK Continental Shelf (“UKCS”) region of the North Sea, notes the announcement made today by Ithaca Energy Inc.

As part of this announcement Ithaca provided the following operational update with regard to the performance of Athena where it’s UK subsidiary is the operator and in which Trapoil’s subsidiary holds a 15 per cent. working interest.

“During the quarter the Athena field completed its first full year of operations, with gross production of approximately 3.6 million barrels having been produced to date.

Gross daily production from the field is currently at a reduced level, primarily as a function of one of the four producing wells, the “P2” well, being temporarily shut-in awaiting a repair to the electrical cable serving that particular well. A diving support vessel has been contracted to perform the necessary operations to fix the electrical fault and reinstatement of production from the well is anticipated within the next few weeks. 

During the quarter, the Athena field commenced the production of water with oil. This is significantly later than originally anticipated. As previously noted, the evolution of the water production profile will now provide important information for forecasting the ultimate field production profile and the scope for future potential upside investment opportunities”

Subsequent to the shut-in of the “P2” well Athena is currently producing just under 9,000 barrels of oil per day.

Mark Groves Gidney, Chief Executive Officer of Trapoil, commented:

“We anticipate that the planned repairs to the “P2″ well will be completed quickly with production from all four producing wells being reestablished. At current production levels, and after taking account of other factors such as oil prices and hedging arrangements, Trapoil currently expects to receive approximately £1.5m net cash inflow per month from Athena. Our view on the level of ultimately recoverable reserves remains unaltered as there is still insufficient water production to draw any firm conclusions at this stage.”