The tophole section is expected to be pre-drilled ahead of the arrival of the HH102 drilling rig in December.
West Firsby-9 will be engineered as a 2,000ft long near-horizontal producer with the reservoir expected to be encountered in a structurally high position on the West Firsby field.
The reservoir will be completed openhole to minimize formation damage and with packers to give zonal production flexibility.
Europa managing director Paul Barrett said that the company looks forward to the drilling of this crestal well and the decision to drill a new well instead of a sidetrack greatly reduces technical risk and allows much more operational flexibility with respect to completion strategy.
"According to the expected timetable, the well should be on production early in the new year," Barrett said.
