The Ocean BlackRhino has drilled a first production well at the Sangomar field, offshore Senegal.
Senegal’s state-owned Petrosen reported on the weekend that the first horizontal well had been completed.
Using modern technology, it said, the rig had reported pay of around 500 metres in the S540 reservoir. It drilled this to a total vertical depth of about 2,600 metres.
Woodside Energy is the operator of Sangomar. The company’s CEO Meg O’Neill, speaking in August, said the well development campaign had begun in July and would cover 23 wells.
First oil is due in 2023, she said. The Leopold Sédar Senghor floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel will have 100,000 barrels per day of capacity. Woodside has named the FPSO after Senegal’s first president.
The company has commissioned support facilities in Dakar.
The Ocean BlackHawk is due to arrive in Senegal in mid-2022 to participate in the drilling campaign.
Woodside is also in the process of a process to sell down its stake in Sangomar. It currently has an 82% stake in the field, following the acquisition of FAR Ltd’s stake.
One potential bidder is India’s ONGC Videsh. The company had struck a deal with FAR to buy its stake, before Woodside pre-empted the agreement.
Sangomar represents Woodside’s biggest capital expenditure commitment in 2021.
According to Marine Traffic, Swire Offshore’s Pacific Grebe and Pacific Griffon are supporting the Ocean BlackRhino.