The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Drilling firm at the ready
North Sea: Work looks set to begin on appraisal well in Outer Moray Firth
North Sea exploration firm i3 Energy has confirmed it is set to start drilling work on an appraisal well in the Liberator field in the Outer Moray Firth.
The company’s chief financial officer said i3 Energy was just waiting
“i3 Energy is just waiting for Dolphin Drilling to receive signoff on a drill rig”
for Dolphin Drilling to receive sign-off on a drill rig in order to begin work.
Liberator will be drilled using the Borgland Dolphin, an anchored semi-submersible mobile drilling rig. Work is due to begin before Thursday and is scheduled to last 35 days.
The appraisal well will be drilled by oilfield services firm Petrofac. John Woods, i3 Energy’s CEO, said: “With these wells we are looking at a 70-80% success rate, so we’re hopeful.”
i3 Energy said the Borgland Dolphin rig will drill a pilot production well on the Liberator field, along with appraisal wells on the Liberator West extension and the nearby Serenity prospect.
The company, based in Westhill, Aberdeenshire, and its portfolio of wholly owned assets is capable of producing about 200 million barrels of oil equivalent in May.
Chief executive Majid Shafiq said the programme could “transform” i3 into one of the “more significant oil producers” in the UK. It also plans to develop Liberator as a subsea tieback to the Bleo Holm vessel, which is on lease to Repsol Sinopec Resources UK. First oil is slated for 2020.
Launched in 2014, the company is named i3 because its directors were formerly involved with other North Sea companies starting with the letter I – Ithaca Energy and Iona Energy.