LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - North Sea-focussed independent upstream oil and gas company Jersey Oil & Gas announced that Statoil - operator of UK Seaward Licence P.2170, blocks 20/5b & 21/1d - awarded a contract to Transocean Drilling UK for the semisubmersible rig Transocean Spitsbergen.
The Transocean Spitsbergen rig would drill the Verbier prospect on the P.2170 licence in the Central North Sea, and the Verbier well would be part of a Statoil operated three-well drilling programme, with the Verbier planned to be drilled in summer 2017.

Jersey said the Verbier prospect, in which it held an 18% interest, was located in Blocks 20/5b & 21/1d.

The recently-announced competent person's report undertaken by ERC Equipoise estimated gross mean prospective resources attributable to the P.2170 Licence to be 162 MMboe for the Verbier prospect.

Statoil will fund all costs up to $25m in respect of the Verbier well, in addition to which Jersey would benefit from an additional carry of 10% from co-venturer CIECO Exploration and Production, in respect of the well programme related costs.

"We are very pleased to announce that Statoil has contracted the rig, Transocean Spitsbergen, to drill the Verbier prospect in summer of this year," said Statoil CEO Andrew Benitz.

"Confirmation of this contract is the culmination of a great deal of technical work by the Joint Venture partnership and we are grateful for the support received from our shareholders during this time."

Email this article to a friend

or share it with one of these popular networks:

• DIGG
• FACEBOOK
• STUMBLEUPON
• MIXX
• YAHOO BUZZ
• DELICIOUS
• REDDIT
• NEWSVINE