New North Sea gas and condensates discovery

Total (operator, 30%), and its partners Neptune Energy (50%), Ithaca Energy (10%) and the wholly owned subsidiary of Edison, Euroil Exploration (10%), have made a gas and condensates discovery with the Isabella 30/12d-11 well on licence P1820, located in the Central North Sea. The find is located about 40 km south of the Elgin-Franklin field.

Commenting on the discovery, Glenn Morrall, an analyst at Wood Mackenzie, notes that Isabella’s high-pressure/high-temperature (HP/HT) nature will ‘add complexity and cost to any development, and its progression is likely to be put on the backburner at current prices’.

However, he continues: ‘Given the abundance of nearby infrastructure, the discovery could be commercial should we see a pick-up in sentiment – some HP/HT fields around the world are commercial at as little as 15mn boe. The company’s experience in developing big HP-HT gas/condensate projects in UK waters, such as Elgin-Franklin and Culzean, will no doubt stand it in good stead.’