TotalEnergies has extended an option for the Maersk Voyager, which has recently begun drilling the deepest well in the world offshore Angola.
The seventh-generation drillship is now under contract to the French company until February 2022. It began drilling the Ondjaba-1 well this month. The contract extension is estimated for 54 days.
Once it has completed work on the Angolan well, in Block 48, it will move to Namibia. There it will drill the hotly tipped Venus well. There is one well option remaining on the contract.
“We’re thrilled to be able to confirm that we indeed will be drilling for a new world record,” said Maersk Drilling COO Morten Kelstrup.
“Ondjaba-1 was part of Maersk Voyager’s original contract in Angola, but the rig’s drilling programme has undergone several changes due to the unprecedented circumstances the world has faced since early 2020. With this contract option called, we’re now looking forward to proving that Maersk Drilling and the highly capable Voyager crew can once again break existing boundaries in close collaboration with TotalEnergies.”
The drillship is drilling the Ondjaba-1 well in 3,628 metres of water. The Maersk Venturer, the sister drillship of the Maersk Voyager, drilled the current world record offshore Uruguay. It drilled the Raya-1 well in 3,400 metres of water for Total in 2016.
The Namibian well, Venus, is in around 3,000 metres of water.
Shell’s Perdido platform holds the title of the deepest water development, in 2,450 metres.
Drilling in Angola dried up entirely in May 2020, with Baker Hughes reporting no rigs active in the country. As of September this year, though, four rigs are working.
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