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(Alliance News) - i3 Energy PLC and Europa Oil & Gas PLC on Monday have abandoned a North Sea well after "disappointing" drilling results in the Serenity field.
Shares in Europa plummeted 40% to 1.32 pence while shares in i3 Energy were trading 12% lower at 24.25 pence on Monday morning.
The companies said that the SA02 well, in the Serenity field, was drilled to a total depth of 5,630 feet. The company said that the targeted Lower Cretaceous Captain sand, which contained hydrocarbons in a different well, was not discovered.
While over 100 feet of other Captain sands was encountered, these were found to be water wet. As a result, no wireline logs will be run. Wireline logs are detailed records of the geological formation in a well.
The well will now be plugged and abandoned. The rig will then be released from contract.
i3 Energy and Europa are joint venture partners in the Serenity well, located in the North Sea. Europa acquired a 25% working interest in the field and agreed to fund about 46% of the costs of the Serenity appraisal well under a farmout agreement signed in August.
The total gross cost is expected to be about GBP10.4million. Under the terms of a farmout agreement, i3 Energy's working interest in Serenity is 75%. Its interest in the well is 54%, resulting in a cost of GBP5.6 million. Europa, which has a 25% interest in the field, will pay the remaining GBP4.8 million.
i3 Energy Chief Executive Officer Majid Shafiq said: "Whilst this result is disappointing, we and Europa will use the data recovered to improve our understanding of the Serenity field and the architecture and geometry of the Captain sand reservoir intervals. The data will also improve our understanding of the extent and geometry of the oil-bearing sand found in the 13/23c-10 discovery well. This will allow us to proceed with the planning and evaluation of a preferred development option, initially focussed on the eastern area of the mapped structure around the discovery well."
By Chris Dorrell; chrisdorrell@alliancenews.com
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