The Armada development comprisest hree gas-condensatefi eldsint he CentralNorthS ea: Fleming (PaleoceneM aureenFormation reservoir),D rake andH awkins (UpperJurassic FulmarFormation reservoirs). Armada cameon streamin1997,withsevenPhaseIwells producingataplateaurateof450 £ 10 6 SCFD.APhase II drillingc ampaign,c omprisingthree Armada wells,wasimplemented in2 002 withthe aimo fe xtendingthe duration ofthe Armada production plateauand, wherepossible, accessingnewr eserves. The first well wasa relatively straightforwardP aleoceneM aureenFormation producer,a lthough the targetw asr evised based on a newseismic attributestudy,which revealed important heterogeneitiesinthisdeep-marinereservoir. The second well targeted the undrilled western compartment ofthe Hawkins discovery. Unfortunately,the FulmarFormation wasw ater-wetw ithno evidence for any hydrocarbon charge, despitethe factt hatgashad beenp roved byan earlierexploration well inadowndipcompartment.Fortunately,to mitigatethe risks,which had beenrecognized pre-drill,the well had beendesigned withasecondary PaleoceneMaureenFormation targetwhich cameinbetter thanprognosed.Asignificant aspecto fthe Armada PhaseI Iprogrammewast he extensivei ntegration across anumbero f disciplines. The combined teamw ass oon ableto proposeaconvincinge xplanation for the failureofW est Hawkins,givingcomfort thatEast Hawkins shouldbef ully charged andwasworthdrilling.The finalPhaseI I well wasthereforetargeted on East Hawkins,although itwasadifficult well to planasthe keyreservoirhorizon had only minor stand-off from the gas-watercontact. Anumberofdifferent well trajectorieswereconsidered and 3Dvisualization proved invaluableinensuringthe finalwell pathwasoptimized.Inaddition,amajor benefitwas derived from arecently installed onsite3Dvisualization centrethatenabled the multidisciplinary Armada teamto worktogethervery effectively. For example, the drillingengineers weretruly ableto appreciatewhatwasdriving the geotechnicalr equirementsfor the well andvice versa.The well camei nv ery closeto prognosis,a dding valuablereservesandfurtherextendingthe Armada plateau.Witharig on the Armada platform the opportunity wastakentodrill the SouthWest Seymour prospect,whose chance ofsuccess had increased dramaticallyafterapossibledirecthydrocarbon indicator wasrecognized on an inverted seismic volume.The well discovered hydrocarbons inthe primary target,the FulmarFormation andalso inthe PentlandFormation andwasimmediately side-tracked to apreviouslyplanned updipFulmardevelopment location.

In the document The Learning Country (2001), the minister for education, lifelong learning and skills, Jane Davidson, set out her vision for education in Wales, including the creation of a new phase in education for young children. The minister visited several countries recognised as having good quality early years education and was impressed with the way they organised their provision. In many of the countries visited, young children began formal education much later than they did in Wales and yet achieved similar, and often, better outcomes than those who began school earlier.

In 2006, all year 1 and year 2 children in pilot schools will be following the Welsh foundation phase. Shan Richards reports