With the Airidh well completion, the rig is presently preparing to move to the Macanta prospect in Block 42/14, the next exploration well to be drilled by the operator RWE Dea in the Greater Breagh Quad 42 area.
The Macanta prospect is located midway between the Breagh field, which is currently being developed and the Crossman field, a discovery located in the blocks immediately east of the prospect.
David Findlater, vice-president of exploration at Sterling, said: “Although over 300ft of Bunter Sandstone, the primary target formation, was encountered with the top 50ft showing a high resistivity response, no natural gas was present.
“Whilst this is not a positive outcome, the Airidh prospect was always regarded as a high risk, potentially high return well because of hydrocarbon migration. It is important to remember that the Bunter sandstone in Airidh is a younger and totally different reservoir unit from the rest of the Quad 42 targets.”
