Jersey Oil and Gas announces start of drilling at Verbier

Jersey Oil and Gas announced on Monday that drilling of an exploration well at the Verbier prospect in the UK North Sea had begun.

The well would test the Verbier Prospect located within the P.2170 licence area using the semi-submersible rig called Transocean Spitsbergen.

The drilling programme, which might include a side-track well depending on the results of the initial well, was expected to take up to 70 days.

Statoil, the operator of the license, would fund all the costs up to $25m in respect of the well.

Jersey Oil and gas would also benefit from a cash carry of 10% of well costs from its co-venturer CIECO Exploration and Production, the company said in a statement.

The co-venturers in the P.2170 Licence and their respective interests were: Statoil 70%, JOG 18% and CIECO 12%.

Andrew Benitz, CEO of Jersey Oil & Gas pegged Verbier's estimated mean prospective resources at 162m barrels of oil equivalent, saying that it held the potential to add "considerable" value to the joint-venture partnership.

Ron Lansdell, Jersey's chief operating officer, added: "Success at Verbier could provide significant impetus for potential future exploration of the neighbouring Cortina prospect within the P.2170 Licence area."

The company's shares were down -0.62% to 242.00p.