'˜Cotton' tribute by gas firm Speedwell

A newly-discovered North Sea gas field has been named '˜Cotton' in honour of Inverallochy.

Speedwell announced last week that the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) had approved the name change of its wholly- owned gas discovery in block 43/21b.

Speedwell’s field naming strategy is linked to its connections to North-east fishing communites.

CEO Richard Strachan told the Herald: “With our forefathers being fishermen and boat owners here in the North -east of Scotland we have chosen to name our fields after the by-names of local fishing villages and harbours.”

Richard, who hails from Inverallochy, said it was important for Speedwell to choose ‘Cotton’ which is the village’s by-name to be the name of its first field.

The father of subsurface director Jim Ritchie, also known as Jim Ritchie, also came from the fishing village.

Richard continued: “We are really pleased here at Speedwell that the OGA have approved the name change to Cotton so keeping our links to the North-east of Scotland fishing community. Our company name Speedwell comes from the name of several family boats from lug sail through to a steam drifter called Speedwell.

“We are following in our forefather’s footsteps but this time searching for oil and gas as they searched for herring.

“The team here is now fully focused on getting the Cotton field developed and delivering gas to market in a safe, cost efficient and timely manner.”

Speedwell successfully secured two blocks in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) in the 2016 Supplementary Offshore Licensing Round, which was announced in the summer of last year. The firm, which is headquartered in Aberdeen, was awarded Blocks 43/21b (Carna) and 44/16b (Copernicus) in the southern gas basin, located 62 miles east and 108 miles east of Scarborough respectively. The Oil and Gas Authority had offered for award 12 licences to ten companies in the licensing round.