Sterling Resources reported the successful drilling of the Cladhan sidetrack well located on Block 210/29a in the United Kingdom North Sea, some 225 miles north east of Aberdeen, Scotland, in 536 feet water depth. Sterling holds a 39.9% interest and is the operator of the License P1064. Partners are Wintershall (UK North Sea) Ltd 33.5%, Encore Petroleum Ltd 16.6% and Dyas UK Ltd 10%. The original discovery well 210/29a-4 was drilled in November 2008 to a depth of 9,734 feet and discovered oil bearing sands in an Upper Jurassic stratigraphic trap.

Reservoir delineation activities started earlier this month by re-entering the well and sidetracking to an updip location approximately 3,150 feet from the discovery well. The sidetrack was drilled to a total depth of 11,215 feet, encountering a gross hydrocarbon column of 159 feet with 102 feet of net hydrocarbon bearing sandstones compared to the discovery well, which had 31 feet of net pay with 36 degrees API oil.

"The reservoir quality is excellent with average porosities of 21% and average oil saturations of 86%. There are large sections in the well in which porosities exceed 25% and the net to gross has greatly exceeded expectations," stated David Findlater Vice President of Exploration UK. "MDT (modular formation dynamic tester) sampling for both formation pressures and oil samples indicate good correlation of both oil type and reservoir pressure with the discovery well. The two wells have confirmed a total hydrocarbon column in excess of 273 feet. Drill stem testing (DST) will now be performed," added Mr. Findlater.

"These results so far exceed our expectations of the quality and extent of the channel sand in this area of the Cladhan reservoir," stated Mike Azancot, Sterling's President and CEO. "We are confident that results from the imminent DST operations will confirm commerciality of the Cladhan field. The next phase of the appraisal program will be to confirm the additional extent of the reservoir by drilling down dip looking for the oil water contact," added Mr. Azancot.

Tags: Sterling Resources