Faroe Petroleum's Cooper Well Finds Hydrocarbons

by Jon Mainwaring

Rigzone Staff

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Faroe Petroleum announced Thursday that its Cooper Well in the Norwegian Sea has encountered hydrocarbons. The firm said that after drilling down to approximately 17,500 feet, the well made a discovery in the Middle Jurassic Garn formation.

After analyzing preliminary results Faroe, and its partners in the well, are now performing a drill stem test (DST) of the Garn formation to evaluate the likely productivity of the reservoir.

"We are encouraged by the preliminary results for the Cooper well. However, we need to await the results of the flow testing programme to establish likely productivity of the hydrocarbons and the commercial potential and size of the discovered resource," Faroe Chief Executive Graham Stewart said in a statement.

Oil sector analysts at London-based Oriel Securities commented that the results of the DST should be available within the next three-to-four weeks. "However, further drilling is expected to be required to fully evaluate the discovery, which is composed of three main fault compartments," stated a research note from Oriel.

The Cooper well (in which Faroe has a 30-percent interest) was drilled using the West Alpha (midwater semisub) rig. It is located in license PL477 on block 6506/11 on the Halten Terrace of the Norwegian Sea.

Meanwhile, Faroe confimed that operations at the BP-operated North Uist exploration well west of Scotland are continuing after a number of technical issues delayed drilling there.

Faroe – which is focused on exploration and production in the Atlantic Margin, the North Sea and Norway – also reported Thursday that it has increased its bank credit facility in order to provide substantial additional finance to underpin its growth plans. The committed amount under the company's reserve base has been doubled to $250 million. Seven banks, including BNP Paribas and Lloyds TSB Bank, are participating in the increased facility.

A former engineer, Jon is an award-winning editor who has covered the technology, engineering and energy sectors since the mid-1990s. Email Jon at jmainwaring@rigzone.com.

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