Ocean Rig Athena drill ship commences mobilisation to Senegal
Published by Louise Mulhall,
Editorial Assistant
Oilfield Technology,
The Ocean Rig Athena drill ship has commenced mobilisation from Luanda, Angola in preparation for the appraisal and exploration drilling programme in FAR’s highly prospective blocks, offshore Senegal.
The SNE discovery made in late 2014 will be appraised with the first two wells in the three well drilling programme. SNE was ranked by IHS CERA as the world’s largest oil discovery for 2014 and a key aim of the appraisal programme will be proving the threshold economic field size which FAR estimates is in the order of 200 million barrels for a foundation project.
The firm drilling programme will include a coring and testing programme, two appraisal wells for SNE (SNE-2 and SNE-3) plus one shelf exploration well (BEL-1) to further evaluate the shelf area prospectivity.
The three wells will be drilled, logged, cored and tested in a programme expected to be completed by mid-2016. BEL-1will be the first exploration well to be drilled in the blocks following the discoveries in the FAN-1 and SNE-1 wells. This well will be aimed at building the resource base within tie-back range of a possible future hub development over the SNE field. It will be drilled into the Bellatrix Prospect which has been mapped by FAR to contain 168 million barrels of oil on a gross, unrisked, prospective resource basis with 25 million barrels net to FAR. Following the discovery of the SNE field on the shelf, FAR has applied a 49% chance of geological success to the Bellatrix prospect. The well will be deepened to appraise the northern extent of the SNE field so has a key, dual role in the drilling programme.
“Following last year’s incredibly successful drilling program and the encouraging geological work carried out since making our two world class discoveries, FAR looks forward to the commencement of our appraisal of the SNE field and building value through the drill bit over the coming months.
Adapted from a press release by Louise MulhallRead the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/drilling-and-production/19102015/ocean-rig-athena-drill-ship-commences-mobilisation-to-senegal/
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