The second of four field development wells at Ithaca Energy' s (IAE) Greater Stella Area project in the North Sea has been successfully drilled and is performing well ahead of expectations. The A2 well flowed at a rate of 10,442 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), very similar to A1's exceptionally strong flow rate of 10,835 boepd, and was likewise constrained by test equipment capacity.
This is great news for Ithaca, as it further de-risks the GSA project where initial production forecasts from all four wells were only expected to deliver up to 30,000 gross boepd, or 16,000 boepd net to Ithaca.
Nevertheless, investor optimism has been held in check by disappointing news that Ithaca has opted to perform additional vessel modifications at GSA, which will push back first oil to end-2014 from mid-2014.
