Antrim Energy Inc. a Canadian, Calgary based oil and gas exploration company with assets in the UK North Sea and Ireland, has entered into a contract with Offshore Installation Services Ltd. to permanently plug and abandon Antrim’s four suspended subsea wells in the United Kingdom Central North Sea.
United Kingdom Seaward Licences require licensees to permanently abandon all suspended wells prior to licence expiry. The Contract includes the permanent abandonment of the three suspended wells on the Fyne Licence (P077, Block 21/28a) and the one suspended well on the Erne Licence (P1875, Block 21/29d). The contract is expected to be executed as part of a ten well abandonment campaign including six Central North Sea wells from another operator. This multi-client campaign allows the operators to share certain common costs offering significant cost savings, Antrim has explained.
The estimated total gross cost for abandonment of Antrim’s four wells is £4.75 million, with the estimated net cost to Antrim totaling £1.80 million. The planned mobilization date for the campaign is currently July 8 th , 2015 and the ten well campaign is scheduled to take approximately 45 days to complete.
Commenting on the abandonment campaign, Antrim’s CEO Anthony Potter said: “Should the campaign be successful the Company will have met its remaining obligations under the licences in a timely and responsible manner and removed uncertainty as to its financial position going forward with respect to any future corporate opportunities. In this regard the Company continues to assess opportunities based on, amongst other criteria, strategic fit, focus on near term appraisal / development, use of funds and transformative potential.”