The Peak Group Wins Key Irish Sea Well Contract

The Peak Group has secured a major contract with Burlington Resources Irish Sea Limited for the planning and management of three gas wells in the East Irish Sea.

The work consists of one development well on the Dalton Field, about 25 miles west of Walney Island, Barrow, followed by two exploration wells on the Asland and Kelly prospects between the British mainland and the Isle of Man. Burlington Resources currently holds eight licenses in the East Irish Sea, covering 239,000 acres.

The Peak Group will deliver a complete well project management service. This will include detailed well and test design, tendering and contracting for all services, execution of the drilling program including materials and logistics, project completion and operations wrap-up. The total duration of the work is expected to be five months including testing. This will be a multi million pound project.

Planning and operations management services will be conducted from Peak's Aberdeen office while logistics will be managed from Heysham, Lancashire. Activity on the first well is scheduled to begin in May.

Ian Burdis, operations director of Peak Well Management, The Peak Group's well management division, said: "We have worked previously with Burlington on engineering projects, but this is the first time that we have provided such a coordinated and comprehensive service for the company.

"The Peak Group has a major plan of activity this year, including the delivery of approximately 30 wells worldwide, and this is an extremely significant contract for us. It aligns us once again with one of the world¹s largest independents and also represents the first step in the transformation of PWM from a provider of manpower and systems to the delivery of a fully integrated well construction service."

Dave Scott, general manager of drilling and production for Burlington Resources Inc said: "The East Irish Sea is a major source of natural gas production for us and we look forward to proceeding on this project."