Independent Oil & Gas (LON:IOG) has now signed a rig contract with Transocean Drilling UK for the upcoming Skipper appraisal well.
Transocean’s John Shaw semi-submersible rig is now expected to spud the well in late January or early February.
It is anticipated that the well, which aims to retrieve good quality reservoir condition samples, will be drilled to a depth of 5,600 feet and will take about 25 days to drill.
"Following our recent funding, the signing of this semi-submersible rig contract with Transocean is the breakthrough we've been waiting for,” said Mark Routh, IOG chief executive.
“This allows us to drill the Skipper well in the New Year which will enable us to optimise the Skipper Field Development Plan in addition to targeting two exploration prospects at low cost.
“We hope to provide further updates regarding approvals from the OGA in the near future."
Skipper currently has 26.2mln barrels of gross 2C resources, and it is believed that it could have 34.1mln barrels of recoverable oil.
Beneath the main Skipper reservoir there is also exploration prospects, which could contain an extra 46mln barrels, and they will also be tested by the new well. If this exploration is successful, the company expects it would co-develop these additional resources with Skipper.