Nautical Petroleum spudded the Selkie exploration well 8/25a-1 in the North Sea's United Kingdom Continental Shelf on May 11, 2008, using the drilling rig Transocean Prospect.

The 8/25a-1 exploration well lies directly west of the Skipper discovery (Block 9/21) and is targeting a reservoir in the Tertiary Dornoch Formation, which is analogous to the Skipper oil discovery.

The Selkie prospect is a four way dip closed prospect which, following the completion of extensive evaluation of seismic data is believed to be larger than the Skipper discovery. This is Nautical's third operated well and initial results are expected in early June.

The interests held in Block 8/25a are Nautical Petroleum plc 60%, Celtic Oil Limited (wholly owned by SK Energy) 40% .

"The Selkie well continues Nautical's UKCS drilling program, and is aimed at further de-risking its significant prospect inventory," Steve Jenkins Chief Executive of Nautical said. "The well will test the largest of a cluster of shallow prospects along a proven oil migration path. This is Nautical's third operated well which will be followed by at least one further operated well in the second half of 2008."

Tags: Nautical Petroleum