Onshore rig starts offshore drilling

The drilling rig at Lybster is now up and running. Angus Mackay AN onshore rig has begun drilling for oil just off the east Caithness coast. Operators Caithness Oil are very hopeful their exploratory programme will lead on to a commercial operation. advertising Engineers gave the green light to the drilling after mobilising the plant on ground at Swiney, south of Lybster. The company is to gauge the reserves in two virgin fields in the Inner Moray Firth. The £10 million campaign is a joint venture between Caithness Oil – a wholly owned subsidiary of Caithness Petroleum – and Banchory-based Reach Exploration. Reach – which has a 25 per cent stake – carried out the early research work. Its survey indicated potential reserves in the Lybster field of three to five million barrels of oil, with the Knockinnon field being as least... [read full story]