Woodside Energy has plugged and abandoned a well offshore Senegal after failing to find commercial quantities of hydrocarbons.
The Australian company said it had completed the SNE North-2 this month. The well was targeting a near field tie-back potential, which could connect up to the 100,000 barrel per day Sangomar FPSO.
Senegal approved a two-year exploration extension for the area around SNE North earlier this year.
Woodside had planned to drill a well to test the prospect in 2021 but pushed it back. The partners on Sangomar drilled the SNE North-1 well in 2017, finding 24 metres of gross hydrocarbon column in three intervals.
The Sangomar development is now 70% complete, the company said.
“At Sangomar the subsea installation campaign began in September and development drilling progressed, with six of the planned 23 wells now complete,” said Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill.
“The project was 70% complete at quarter end with first oil targeted for the second half of 2023.”
The Ocean BlackHawk and Ocean BlackRhino are drilling wells on the field.
The FPSO is under construction and is due to relocate to Singapore in the fourth quarter. Once there, the vessel will undergo topsides integration and commissioning.
Modec, which is overseeing the FPSO process, had originally intended to do the work in China. However, COVID-19 restrictions have made operations more complicated.
Woodside has spent $727 million on Sangomar in the year to date. The company has an 82% stake in the field. It had been hoping to sell down a 40-50% stake but dropped this plan in July. Petrosen owns the remaining 18%.