Dana Petroleum has announced it has made a ÔÇ£significantÔÇØ gas discovery at a well in the UK North Sea.
The Aberdeen, Scotland-based firm said that a test well had found an estimated 130 billion cubic feet of gas about 80 miles north of the gas terminal at Bacton in Norfolk.
Dana said the site, known as Platypus, was the first from its three-well digging programme in the southern North Sea.
The well was drilled in a water depth of around 142 feet to a total depth of 11,048 feet, with the firm saying it encountered 218 feet of "good quality gas bearing sands".
Further tests will now be performed on the Platypus field to assess development options. The company is running what are known as ÔÇÿwireline logsÔÇÖ, which examine the geology and hydrocarbon content in more detail by lowering instruments into the hole.
Commenting on the news, Tom Cross, DanaÔÇÖs chief executive said: ÔÇ£Dana is delighted to report a significant gas discovery at Platypus.ÔÇØ
He went on to say: ÔÇ£The Platypus gas field is situated in shallow water, with good reservoir quality and in close proximity to existing infrastructure. These are all very positive factors in respect of moving ahead with a gas development.
ÔÇ£This success also significantly improves the potential for further exploration in the block, including the adjacent Possum prospect.ÔÇØ
Dana owns a 45 per cent interest in the Platypus find. The drill rig is now moving on to Monkwell, another of DanaÔÇÖs prospects.
Leman, the reservoir targeted by the drilling, is the major producer in the southern North Sea. Dana is already producing gas from it at its Johnston, Victor and Anglia fields.
Leman is also the reservoir in the Babbage field, which Dana is currently developing and from where it is expected to produce its first gas in mid-2010.
Cross went on to say that as part of its extensive 2010 exploration programme, Dana is also currently drilling the Bamboo prospect in the offshore Nile Delta and the K3-4 well in the Dutch sector of the North Sea. It is also preparing to drill in the onshore Gulf of Suez.
In addition, Dana will soon prepare to drill the Storkollen prospect in the Norwegian North Sea, the Anne Marie well in the Faroe Islands, west of Shetland, and its Cormoran prospect in Mauritania.
In total the company plans to drill a further 17 wells this year.
