At this point, the report said, drilling lost five days. It attributed this to “trying to latch on to the wellhead because the rig compensator failed”. It noted the “situation was exacerbated by the rig guide funnel having been left behind in Norway”.
Africa Oil bought a 50% stake in Prime in January 2020 for $519.5mn. It has taken $712.5mn in dividends from the company, recovering its investment in under three years.
Phase 2 will involve the use of an existing FPSO. Production is due to start by the end of 2024. This will allow Eni to export oil, while it will send gas onshore via a pipeline to power plants.
Tullow expects the operator to carry out new drilling in 2025. The plans is for seven infill wells, two producers on West Espoir and two producers and three injectors on East Espoir.
By 2027, rig demand in the GCC area will be 53% higher than 2019, Westwood’s Jensen predicted.
The Hercules is undergoing a special survey in Norway ahead of mobilisation to Canada. After Canada, it will re-cross the ocean and head to Namibia.
US-listed Cobalt International Energy initially explored the blocks. Total bought into the assets in 2019 from Sonangol, following Cobalt’s bankruptcy.
A Singapore-registered oil tanker is missing after it was boarded earlier this week off the coast of Africa in what authorities are calling an act of piracy.
The tanker Theseus offloaded its cargo of Russian crude into storage tanks at Ghana’s Tema oil refinery over the weekend, after being anchored full off the port since Feb. 24 as it awaited permission to dock.
Installation of the subsea production system is under way and Eni aims to begin producing by June this year.
Sonangol has set out plans to restructure its interests in the Paenal yard and create a new operating model.
Africa will “dominate” new floating LNG (FLNG) projects in the period to 2027, adding 10.2 million tonnes per year of capacity, according to a note from Westwood Global Energy Group.
Once the Blackford Dolphin completes its work for General Hydrocarbons, it will stay in Nigeria for work with Peak Petroleum, at a higher day rate.
“Given the state owned, monopolistic nature of CTF the company was deprived of normal contractual remedies and was forced to wait until a suitable rig became available,” he continued.
Sonatrach described the expansion project as one of its pivotal projects, which would help the company expand internationally.
Dolphin Drilling said the minimum term contract carried an effective dayrate of $325,000 including mobilisation.
Eni had hoped to drill off Mozambique in 2020 but COVID-19 interrupted plans, Esgian analyst Matthew Donovan said.
Saipem’s contract did not, though, cover reactivation costs for the rig. As a result, Deep Value Driller entered into a loan facility for $75 million, which will mature in three years.
According to a recent Eni presentation, Agogo is due to start up in 2026. It will produce 175,000 barrels per day in 2027.
The plan, he said, would not be “to appraise everything”. Instead, the partners in the block would “accelerate the time to market … if we have the chance to really confirm the volumes which seems to have been discovered, there will be room to make fast track developments, like we did on Block 17, 25 years ago.”
Shell’s deepwater unit is using the rig for infill drilling around its Bonga FPSO.
Gabon is producing around 200,000 barrels per day. Should Tigre be successful, and if the in-place forecasts are accurate, the project could double Gabon’s production, S&P said.
Shelf won more work in Egypt for its Trident 16 jack-up in January. Petrobel signed a one-year contract extension for the rig, with an option for another year.
“Our rig is still available,” a Palmeron official said. “We believe the contract should be ours. If we do it, we would be the first local contractor in Africa to do drilling. We want the IOCs and the world to encourage us,” he continued.
Shell spudded the Jonker well in December. “I’m not saying anything apart from to say it is going well, it is going very well,” Shino said to applause.