North Sea operator Dana Petroleum says it has made a new gas discovery after drilling in the Pharos prospect.
The field, 35 miles northeast of the Yorkshire coast, had long been thought to be a significant gas field. Previously, it had been estimated to contain up to 500billion cubic feet of gas – the equivalent of 86million barrels of oil.
Now, detailed evaluation work will be carried out to determine exactly how much more gas is on the site, Dana said.
Parkmead, which has a 20% stake in the field, said the new find could be developed in conjunction with the Platypus field, about 8.7 miles away and also operated by Dana.
Parkmead chairman Tom Cross said: “This success could add significant further value to the Platypus gas field, strengthening Parkmead’s position in the UK southern gas basin.”
Dana, owned by Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC), operates Pharos for partners Hansa, Dyas Exploration, MPX North Sea and Parkmead. As well, it holds a 59% operated interest in Platypus.
Paul Griffin, Dana’s UK managing director, said: “This is the fifth North Sea exploration and appraisal well that Dana has drilled as operator or in partnership during 2013.
“Pharos is well located to take advantage of a number of gas export options in the area and we now need to undertake further detailed technical work to evaluate its commercial potential.”
Drilling work on the field began a month ago with the Noble Lynda Bossler rig.
Parkmead, which is run by Mr Cross, got a stake in the Platypus gas field and the neighbouring Possum prospect when it acquired a 15% stake in three blocks in the southern North Sea from XTO UK, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil. It acquired its stake in Pharos from privately owned Italian explorer Sorgenia E&P in 2011. Mr Cross added: “The Pharos discovery completes an excellent year of progress for Parkmead.”
Last week, Parkmead said revenues and assets had increased dramatically in the year due to a number of acquisitions.
Mr Cross built Dana Petroleum before the firm succumbed to a hostile £1.7billion bid from KNOC in 2010. His company aims to double its daily oil production to 100,000 barrels by 2016. Recently, Dana executives said its exploration projects were expected to boost daily production from the North Sea alone to about 50,000 barrels per day by the end of 2015.