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(Sharecast News) - Both Europa Oil and i3 Energy announced completion of drilling on the Serenity appraisal well on Monday, UK licence P2358, block 13/12c.
The AIM-traded firms said the Serenity appraisal well was drilled to a total vertical depth of 5,630 feet below sea level.
They said the targeted lower cretaceous captain sand, which contained hydrocarbons in the 13/23c-10 well discovered in October 2019, was not present at the location.
Over 100 feet of other captain sands in various sequences were found, but were water wet, with the well now set to be plugged and abandoned.
Data recovered from the well would be integrated into further reservoir modelling to optimise a development plan to exploit the reserves, proven up by the discovery well, in the eastern area of the structure.
The companies said the well was drilled "significantly" below budget and with no health, safety, environmental or lost time incidents.
The total gross cost was expected to be around £10.4m.
I3 Energy said its working interest in Serenity was 75%, but under the terms of the farmout with Europa, its paying interest for the 13/23c-12 well was 53.75%, resulting in an estimated net cost to i3 of £5.6m.
"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," said i3 Energy chief executive officer Majid Shafiq.
"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."
Simon Oddie, Europa CEO, added that his company was in a "financially strong position", with ongoing production generating material monthly net income.
"We will continue to execute on our stated strategy of pursuing new assets to build a balanced portfolio, focussing on opportunities that need further appraisal to unlock the asset value.
"At Wressle we are working with our partners on the continuing development of the Wressle field and the greater area, which includes further drilling, and I look forward to sharing the details in due course."
At 1046 BST, shares in i3 Energy were down 11.66% at 24.25p, while those in Europe Oil & Gas Holdings were 36.36% lower at 1.4p.
Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.