Antrim gives Premier a North Sea Christmas present

Antrim Energy, the Canadian oil company, says it has drilled a successful sidetrack well to assess the Erne discovery in the UK section of the North Sea.

The sidetrack encountered around 24 feet of net oil and 14 feet of net gas in a high quality sandstone reservoir, Antrim revealed.

Antrim did not perform a flow test and provided no immediate forecast for how many barrels, or barrels of oil equivalent, may be available from the well. Nevertheless, Antrim says the work has "de-risked" other drilling in the region.

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It is good news for FTSE 250 company Premier Oil which has a 50% stake in the project.

Premier has lost 82% of its value this year after announcing lower than expected production numbers back in May. Antrim is down just 0.85% since the start of the year.

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