Offshore news

Spirit Energy has received permission to drill a wildcat well in production licence 780, about 5 km north of the Ivar Aasen field in the central part of the North Sea.

The projects in scope are Breidablikk and the Gas Import System for the Snorre Expansion Project, for which contracts have been awarded, and Askeladd Vest, for which a letter of intent has been issued.

Investment in a new £3.5 million engineering assembly and test centre continues with construction reaching a key phase following the completion of the structural steel framework.

The company is selling its entire stake in the Atum, Curimã, Espada and Xaréu shallow-water oilfields.

The pre-defined areas include blocks in the North Sea, Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea.

The work centres on NEO Energy’s Babbage platform, which is located in block 48/2a of the UK SNS and includes five gas production wells and one suspended well.

The contract will encompass Altrad mobilising resources to Ravenna in Italy for the construction phase of the project, which will be followed by the hook-up and commissioning phase located offshore in the Southern North Sea.

The patent has been granted for the technology in Ghana, Liberia and Mozambique.

Fugro will support Seamec's asset management project for ONGC offshore west India.

The announcement comes a day after Petrolia, a partner in the programme along with Concedo and Idemitsu Petroleum, had said that drilling would start by 19 June.