IOG to spud first well at Southwark following two-month hiatus

Following a two-month drilling hiatus over an issue with Noble Corp‘s Noble Hans Deul jackup, operator IOG said it is prepared to spud the first well in the Southwark gas field, located in the UK North Sea.

After successful investigation and repair work, the Noble Hans Deul was mobilized from the Port of Dundee on 3 December and arrived at the Southwark platform 500-m zone on 9 December. The first Southwark development well is expected to be spudded by the end of this week.

Given the two-month drilling hiatus, first gas is expected at Southwark by mid-2022 after the planned installation in Q1 of the 6-km Saturn Banks pipeline extension to the Southwark platform. The rig is then scheduled to move on to drill the Goddard and Kelham North/Central appraisal wells while analysis of reservoir and production data from Southwark-1 and Southwark-2 wells will inform an optimal Southwark-3 well plan.

“I look forward to safe and successful execution of the Southwark wells,” IOG CEO Andrew Hockey said in a statement.