Serica Energy, UK oil and gas company operating mainly in the North Sea, said that the Rowallan well was drilled down to a depth of 4,641 metres and after an unsuccessful result, it will now be plugged and abandoned.
It encountered a 182-metre section of sandstone and shale that was not found to be hydrocarbon bearing.
"We are naturally disappointed that the well has not encountered hydrocarbons,” said Mitch Flegg, Serica chief executive.
The Ensco 121 jack-up rig started drilling the high pressure, high temperature gas condensate field at the end of last year.
The well was operated by Italian firm Eni, with a 32% interest. Serica (15%) other partners in the well were JX Nippon 25%, Mitsui 20% and Equinor 8%.
“We will now assess the valuable data acquired before deciding the forward plan for the remaining prospects on block 22/19c and adjacent blocks.
“This result justifies our policy of reducing financial exposure to exploration risk by means of farm-out. In this case, we were fully carried and did not pay anything towards the cost of the well. We remain fully committed to building on our balanced exploration, development and production portfolio."
