Fairfield Energy Concludes Three Drilling Campaigns in Darwin Area

Fairfield Energy Concludes Three Drilling Campaigns in Darwin Area

Fairfield Energy, the North Sea-focused independent oil and gas company, has announced the successful conclusion of a three well drilling campaign in the Darwin area, consisting of one appraisal and two exploration wells.

Under Fairfield’s operatorship, the Ocean Nomad rig drilled the two exploration wells within Block 211/27e by means of a well and a sidetrack. The Ocean Nomad rig is currently still on location having discovered oil in well 211/27e-13Z. The 211/27e-13 well was plugged and abandoned. The 211/27e-13z well discovered an oil column within the primary reservoir target, the upper Brent sequence, of 154 ft (true vertical thickness), and is being abandoned having obtained extensive reservoir data, including oil samples, of sufficient quality to enable consideration of the discovery as part of a Darwin development without further appraisal.

The John Shaw rig drilled the 211/23a-14 appraisal well under TAQA’s well operatorship. The rig has now left the location having discovered oil, leaving the well suspended for a future well test. This well discovered an oil column within the primary reservoir target, the upper Brent sequence, of 193 ft (true vertical thickness).

The Darwin area includes the southern end of Block 211/27a (adjacent to the abandoned NW Hutton field) together with an extension into Blocks 211/27c and 211/27e. It lies approximately 130 km northeast of the Shetland Islands in the Northern North Sea.

The drilling campaign follows a multi-year programme of subsurface work comprising new 3D seismic and static/dynamic modeling which resulted in the identification of significant potential in-place volumes. The new well results will be incorporated into an ongoing evaluation of the development options for Darwin. Fairfield holds a 50% interest in both blocks following a 50% farm-out to TAQA Bratani in 2012. On March 31st 2013, Taqa will assume operatorship of Blocks 211/27a, 211/27c and 211/27e.

Commenting on today’s announcement, Chris Wright, CEO, said:

We are delighted with the excellent results from the Darwin drilling programme, which has seen one potentially significant discovery and confirmation of the areal extent of a previous discovery. The presence of two rigs concurrently on the location demonstrates the operational excellence and commitment of both Fairfield and TAQA, towards expediting exploration and appraisal of this important area. Furthermore, it demonstrates our team’s strong technical ability and, with our supportive investors augurs well for further successes as we continue to grow in the months and years ahead.

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Press Release, February 18, 2013