TAQA Bratani's North Sea Contender Well Hits Oil

TAQA Bratani has made an oil discovery at the Contender exploration well in the North Sea, its partners in the well announced Monday.

Calgary-headquartered Antrim Energy (which has an 8.4-percent interest in Contender) reported in a statement that the well, located in UK Northern North Sea Block 211/22a, had found net oil pay in excess of 60 feet after the well had been drilled to a total depth of 16,903 feet. The well was encountered in Jurassic Brent sandstones where the total Brent oil column exceeded 112 feet, with no water-bearing sands identified.

Further reservoir evaluation is being undertaken, said Antrim. Should the discovery be commercial, the field will be developed under the name 'Cormorant East' and production will be processed through the North Cormorant platform.

In a separate statement, Anglo-Norwegian oil junior Bridge Energy (which holds a 4-percent interest in Contender) confirmed that it was working with its partners to further define the size of the reservoir.

"This news comes during an exciting period for Bridge where, in addition to the Contender well, in Norway we also have operations ongoing in the PL554 Garantiana well, along with the commencement of drilling operations on the PL457 Asha/Noor prospect later this month," commented Bridge CEO Tom Reynolds in a statement.

TAQA is the operator of the Contender well with a 60-percent interest, while Dana Petroleum and First Oil Expro also have holdings.