Rig Contract Signed for Drilling of the “Verbier” Appraisal programme in Summer 2018
Jersey Oil & Gas (AIM: JOG), an independent upstream oil and gas company focused on the UK Continental Shelf (“UKCS”) region of the North Sea, is pleased to announce that Statoil (U.K.) Limited (“Statoil”), operator of the P.2170 (Blocks 20/5b & 21/1d) licence area (the “P.2170 licence”), has awarded contracts to Seadrill North Atlantic Drilling UK Ltd. and North Atlantic Norway Ltd. for the semi-submersible rig, West Phoenix, to drill a well on the Norwegian Continental Shelf followed by three wells on the UKCS. The West Phoenix rig will drill the Verbier appraisal well, with the possibility for a sidetrack well, on the P.2170 licence in the Central North Sea, as the first of Statoil’s planned UKCS wells, in the summer of 2018.
The Verbier discovery, in which the Company holds an 18 per cent. interest, is located in Block 20/5b. Initial operator estimates of gross recoverable resources associated with the Verbier discovery are between 25 and 130 million barrels of oil equivalent (“mmboe”) with an estimated mean of 69mmboe. The purpose of the planned appraisal well is to determine the potential volume range in the discovery.
Andrew Benitz, CEO of Jersey Oil & Gas, commented:
“We are very pleased to announce that Statoil has contracted the West Phoenix, a sixth generation semi-submersible drilling rig, being the same class of rig that drilled the Verbier discovery well last year, to drill the Verbier appraisal well this summer. Confirmation of this contract at competitive market rates is in line with our previously announced Capex expectations for 2018 and this appraisal campaign will help determine the potential of our exciting Verbier discovery. In parallel with the appraisal well programme on Verbier, we are continuing our exploration activities to fully evaluate the remaining prospectivity of the P.2170 licence area.”
