Shell made a natural gas discovery in the Southern North Sea with its Pensacola well on License P2252. According to well partner Deltic Energy, Pensacola could represent one of the largest natural gas discoveries in the Southern North Sea in over 10 years.
Well 41/05A-2, operated by Shell UK, reached a total depth of 1965 m true vertical depth subsea and the presence of mobile gas and oil in the primary Zechstein Hauptdolomite carbonate target interval was confirmed via wireline logs. The well encountered the top Hauptdolomite reservoir at 1745 m and confirmed a reservoir thickness of 18.8 m with better-than-expected porosity averaging 16%.
“Deltic’s first exploration well at Pensacola has resulted in a highly positive outcome and, at approximately 300 Bcf, would represent one of the largest natural gas discoveries in the Southern North Sea in over a decade,” said Graham Swindells, Chief Executive of Deltic Energy. “We believe that the Pensacola discovery will open a new Zechstein play in this mature basin and highlights the remaining potential of the North Sea as a source of further discoveries which can provide domestically produced natural gas.”
Following completion of a well test program, the well will be plugged and abandoned in line with the usual procedure for a well of this nature, and jackup rig Noble Resilient will be demobilized from the site.
Shell holds a 65% working interest with partners Deltic (30%) and ONE-Dyas (5%).