Shares in Nautical Petroleum (LON: NPE) gained 8.8p to 267p during trading on Wednesday after news emerged that the company’s Carnaby well in the North Sea had discovered oil.
Carnaby, which is operated by Premier Oil (LON:PMO) and is also part-held by Cairn Energy’s recently acquired Agora Oil & Gas, reached Total Depth of 4,695 feet Measured Depth and successfully encountered good quality oil in the Lower Tay sandstone.
The well encountered 44 vertical feet of net oil pay in a single Tay sandstone interval of 46 feet gross vertical thickness. Preliminary log analysis indicates that the average porosity in the reservoir interval is 36% and the average oil saturation is 85%. The oil gravity estimated from wireline samples is 24°API.
The well also intersected thin hydrocarbon-bearing sands in the Tay above the main oil reservoir and water-bearing Tay sands approximately 100 feet below the oil zone. Good quality Cromarty sands were encountered but they were not hydrocarbon bearing.
The well will now be plugged and abandoned as planned.
Steve Jenkins, Nautical’s chief executive, said: “The Carnaby well has discovered another excellent Tay reservoir in the Catcher block which will be a valuable addition to the discoveries already made at Catcher, Varadero and Burgman. The quality and widespread distribution of these sands augurs well for further success and efficient oil production from current and future discoveries in this prolific block. Encouragingly, the oil gravity is similar to Burgman, confirming that good oil quality is likely even in the shallowest prospects.”
