Deltic Sees Material Gas in UK Cupertino Area
UK minnow Deltic Energy has identified "significant previously unrecognised prospectivity" in the UK southern gas basin following analysis of 2-D data in the Cupertino prospect in licence 2428, it said November 23.
The licensed area also contains the depleted and decommissioned Forbes gas field which produced gas from the Triassic Bunter Sandstone between 1985 and 1995, and which has been previously evaluated for its gas storage potential and its possible suitability for CO2 storage in the future.
Three geographical prospects have been identified on the licence, which the company believes are of suitable scale for future commercialisation. Cupertino is the largest with 380bn ft³ on a P50 basis, with Richmond and Plymouth accounting for 520bn ft³ between them.
CEO Graham Swindells said that the technical team continues to produce exceptional work, "uncovering more previously unrecognised prospectivity in this underexplored part of the basin. With combined P50 recoverable gas resources in excess of 900bn ft³, these prospects are clearly material in terms of their overall scale both individually and collectively."
He said Deltic would now "turn to attracting the best possible partner to help us take these opportunities forward towards drilling."
Anglo-Dutch major Shell is partnering it on two other prospects with the same geology: Pensacola and Selene. But owing to the weak market, the drilling programme has slipped.