Largest UK gas find in a decade for China's Cnooc

The largest gas discovery in over a decade may have been unearthed in the UK North Sea by a group led by China's Cnooc and France's Total.

Recoverable resources at the Glengorm prospect, which is located in the Central Graben region in between the UK and Norway, are close to 250m barrels of oil equivalent, Total estimated.

The discovery was made after drilling to a depth of 5,056 meters on the P2215 license, where 37 meters net gas and condensate pay were encountered in what was said to be a high-quality Upper Jurassic reservoir.

Further drilling and testing will be carried out to appraise resources and the productivity of the reservoir. Total said the well presents "some upside potential with several other prospects already identified on the same block".

The European arm of Cnooc, which stands for China National Offshore Oil Corporation, holds a 50% share of the Glengorm discovery, with Total and Italy's Edison each holding 25% working interests.

The P2215 license was previously part of the Maersk Oil portfolio. Cnooc took control of the assets when it bought Canadian firm Nexen in 2013 for more than £9bn.

Total said the well was close to its existing infrastructures, such as the Elgin-Franklin platform and the Culzean project, which is scheduled to start production this year. Glengorm could possibly therefore be developed as a subsea tie-back.

The UK Oil & Gas Authority said that the initial results show that Glengorm could be the biggest since the Culzean discovery in 2008.

Xie Yuhong, Cnooc executive vice president, said: “The Glengorm discovery demonstrates the great exploration potential of licence P2215. We are looking forward to further appraisal.”

OGA chief executive Andy Samuel said: “This is very exciting news; Glengorm was first mapped as a prospect around 20 years ago and it is great to see Cnooc taking up the exploration opportunity and completing a difficult high-pressure, high-temperature exploration well. Initial results show that Glengorm could be one of the biggest finds in the UKCS in recent years, possibly the biggest since the Culzean gas field was discovered eleven years ago.”

He said the discovery underlined the considerable potential of the UK continental shelf.

"Our official estimate is that there still remains between 10 and 20bn barrels plus to be recovered, so there is every chance of yet more significant finds, provided industry can increase exploration drilling and capitalise on the real value to be had here in the UK.”