Skarfjell North Sea well yields more for Cairn Energy and partners

Scottish oil and gas exploration firm Cairn Energy says a major North Sea oil discovery has proved to be bigger than originally estimated.

The Edinburgh firm said an appraisal well drilled at Skarfjell in the Norwegian North Sea had shown the reserve to have greater potential than thought.

The firm has now uprated its original estimation of its gross reserve at Skarfjell from between 60 million and 160m barrels of oil equivalent to between 74m and 235m barrels.

The well is operated by Wintershall Norge which has a 35% interest while Cairn and Bayerngas Norge each have a 20% stake in the prospect and Edison International and RWE Dea have smaller stakes.

Cairn chief executive Simon Thomson said: “Skarfjell is one of the largest discoveries in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea in recent years.

“The combination of very good reservoir and large volumes will allow this discovery to be progressed towards development, with a number of commercially attractive options possible including a standalone facility or a hub development incorporating surrounding undeveloped discoveries.”