Shell starts drilling the first high impact gas well in the North Sea of the UK

Shell, a super oil giant, has begun to use drilling rigs owned by Noble Drilling Company of the United States to conduct drilling operations in Pensacola, a highly influential natural gas prospect structure in the North Sea.

Shell is the operator of Pensacola gas prospect structure, and Deltic Energy is the partner. In March, the partners made a positive decision on well investment in Pensacola gas prospect structure.

The Pensacola gas prospect structure, located in the northwest of the Breagh gas field in the south of the North Sea, is a Zechstein Reef prospect structure with a geological success rate of 55%. It is one of the most influential exploration targets to be drilled in the gas basin in recent years.

Deltic Energy said in a statement that the "Maersk Resilient" drilling rig of Maersk, Denmark, has been safely installed on the prospective structural location of Pensacola natural gas, and the drilling operation has begun.

It is worth noting that Deltic Energy owns a 30% mining interest. The company estimates that the Pensacola gas prospect structure has 303 billion cubic feet of natural gas resources.

The drilling operation is expected to last for 60 to 90 days. It is planned to block and abandon the well after the drilling operation is completed.

Graham Swindells, CEO of Deltic Energy, said: "We are very pleased to start drilling our first exploration well in the Pensacola gas prospect structure. The Pensacola gas prospect structure has great influence and potential development prospects. We hope this is the first exploration well for Deltic Energy Company to continue to implement its strategy, look for opportunities and discover natural gas to meet the energy demand of the UK."

Shell has previously selected the "Maersk Resilient" drilling rig provided by Maersk Drilling Company (now merged with Noble Drilling Company), which has been renamed as "Noble Resilient" for drilling the structural gas well in Pensacola gas prospect. The subsea drilling operation of the drilling rig was originally scheduled to start at the end of July, but was later postponed to late November.