Total announces major gas discovery

TOTAL, the world’s fourth-largest oil and gas company, has announced a major gas discovery on the Glendronach prospect, off the coast of the Shetland Islands, UK. It is the largest discovery of oil and gas made in the UK in a decade.

A well, which was drilled to a final depth of 4,312 m, encountered a 42 m net pay gas column in a high-quality lower crustaceous reservoir. Total’s preliminary tests confirmed good reservoir quality, permeability and well production deliverability.

Recoverable resources were estimated at 1trn ft³, equivalent to more than 170m barrels of oil, and equivalent to approximately 15% of the UK’s proven gas reserves as of the end of 2016, according to a BP statistical review.

“Located on an emerging play of the prolific West of Shetland area, the discovery can be commercialised quickly and at low cost by leveraging the existing Laggan-Tormore infrastructure,” said Arnaud Breuillac, president of exploration and production at Total.

Glendronach will be fed into Total’s Shetland gas plant, which supplies 7% of the UK’s domestic consumption of the fuel. This will be done using pre-existing pipelines. Production is expected to begin in early 2019.

Breuillac said: “Glendronach is a significant discovery for Total which gives us access to additional gas resources in one of our core areas and validates our exploration strategy.”

The as yet under-developed West of Shetland region has been dubbed the “final frontier” for UK oil and gas growth. With further development the region could help offset the decline in the offshore UK oil and gas industry.

Total owns 60% of the new discovery. Its partners, Ineos, and SSE, each own 20%.