Spirit Energy will drill a new well in the Grove North East area. If the infill well is a success, the life of the Grove field could be extended by five years to 2028.

Neil McCulloch, Executive Vice President, Technical & Operated Assets, at Spirit Energy, said: “The infill well is planned to target the un-appraised north-eastern limb of the Grove field and has the potential of delivering 4.2 mmboe net additional reserves. Further, it could add five new years to the life of the Grove field and improve the prospect of additional opportunities in the area.”

Several options
Several concept solutions have been studied, including horizontal, simple vertical and platform deviated wells, subsea tie-back concepts as well as an appraisal well before the development well from the platform.

McCulloch said: “Based on the subsurface, well technical complexity, value and strategic fit criteria, we have decided on a platform deviated well. We believe this is the optimal way forward and a robust well design has been developed – our team is experienced in drilling similar wells in the Southern North Sea, including other wells in the Grove area.

“It’s an investment that fits well with our strategy and is important to the Greater Markham Area.”

The well will be drilled by the ‘Maersk Resolve’, a heavy-duty jack-up rig from Maersk Drilling. Drilling is scheduled to start in Q1 2021, and the goal is to start production in Q3 2021.

Alistair Macfarlane, Area Manager – SNS & EIS at the Oil and Gas Authority, said: “After a challenging time for the industry in 2020, we welcome this positive news for the basin, with activity at the Grove field bringing opportunities for the UK’s supply chain.”

About Grove
Gas from the Grove field is processed at the Markham J6-A facilities operated by Spirit Energy and transported via the West Gas Transport pipeline system to the Den Helder terminal in the Netherlands for further processing.

The Grove field is situated on the UK Continental Shelf close to the UK–Netherlands median line. The Grove field and Grove North East are operated by Spirit Energy (92.5% owner share) and RockRose is licence partner (7.5% owner share).

The Oil & Gas Authority is supportive of the Grove NE appraisal well and the approval is through the Well Operations and Notifications System (WONS) process.


Contacts:
Ross Davidson, Head of Communications
Mobile: +44 7557 617098
Email: ross.davidson@spirit-energy.com

Tom Gederø, Communication Manager
Mobile: +47 922 47 082
Email: tom.gedero@spirit-energy.com