Oil and gas company RockRose Energy has completed the first of two infill development wells at West Brae, located in the UK North Sea, and the well is delivering in line with expectations.

RockRose is the operator of the Brea area with a 40% interest. However, the Brae operatorship is set to be transferred to TAQA in the second half of the year. This follows court proceedings brought by TAQA and other joint venture partners, JX Nippon and Spirit Energy, in December 2019.

RockRose said on Tuesday that, following completion of the first development well, the Noble Houston Colbert jack-up drilling rig spudded the second planned well at West Brae on Monday evening.

Designated WPGZ and WPOZ, the wells are designed to access over 3 MMbbl of net 2P reserves and add net production of 2,500 bopd.

The drilling of the two infill wells forms part of a wider program of planned activity, covering seven wells over the course of 2020.

The program is aimed at enhancing production by over 8,500 boepd (net) this year and next, as the company seeks to convert 2C resources to 2P reserves and deliver extended field life.

At the end of February, RockRose was debt-free with net cash of £272.1 million (equivalent to £20.75 per share) of which £39.5 million was restricted.

Andrew Austin, RockRose, Executive Chairman, said: “The drilling of the first of two RockRose-operated infill wells at West Brae has been completed as planned. The rig has now moved to the second well, which remains on target to deliver first production in Q2. These wells form part of a wider program aimed at creating significant value for shareholders, including increased production, the conversion of resources to reserves and extending field life.”