Upstream drilling news

Valaris has eliminated US$7.1 billion of debt and secured a US$520 million capital injection.

The first phase of the company's Morocco drilling campaign will consist of three appraisal/development wells, targeting an estimated total of 1.3 billion ft3 of P90/1.8 billion ft3 of P50, gross unrisked prospective recoverable resources in the Gharb Basin.

The Uaru-2 discovery will add to the gross discovered recoverable resource estimate for the block, which is currently estimated to be approximately 9 billion oil-equivalent barrels.

The total contract value is contingent on the final investment decision for the Bacalhau field, offshore Brazil.

Schlumberger, which has been selling assets in North America, said it is benefitting from an inflection in global drilling activity which has picked up as oil prices climbed to US$65.45.

The contract is for operations in the Mumbai High, offshore India.

Drilling has begun on four production wells on the Duva field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.

In direct continuation of the Maersk Integrator rig’s work scope, the rig will drill an exploration well for Aker BP offshore Norway.

Recoverable resources are so far estimated at between 3 and 4.2 million m3 of recoverable oil equivalent, corresponding to 19 – 26 million boe.

Work on the 228 m length Stena DrillMAX saw a 48 000 running hours service on a Wartsila W16V32 engine carried out by a team of engineers in Las Palmas in The Canary Islands.