Source: Business Express
Chevron, the U.S. oil major has activated its plan to drill its maiden well in Namibia’s prolific Orange Basin after signing a contract with rig owner, Northern Ocean to mobilize one if its semi-submersibles to Namibia late this year for a one-well exploration campaign.
Chevron is operator of Petroleum Exploration License 90, directly north of acreage holding TotalEnergies’ huge Venus discovery and directly west of Galp’s mighty Mopane discovery. Last week, Northern Ocean confirmed that it had found a new assignment off the coast of Namibia for a semi-submersible rig, which recently finished its job with the UK-headquartered energy giant Shell.
Following its transit from Norway to Namibia, the Deepsea Bollsta rig has been operating within the Orange Basin in Namibia for 18 months. Within its results for the first quarter of 2024, Northern Ocean disclosed that Shell elected on May 1, 2024, to terminate the rig’s drilling contract for convenience and compensate with a standby rate until June 10.
“I am tempted to say it is Rhino Resources, partnered by Azule Energy which has set out to start drilling this year but I can tell you that it is Chevron as the former is working on a two well exploration campaign rather than one,” a source told Business Express in inquiries to find out which of the super majors already participating in the Orange Basin has hired Northern Oceans rig.
Recent discoveries along Namibia’s coast have transformed the country into a major hot spot for oil exploration. It has not yet produced any oil or gas, but oil majors such as TotalEnergies and Shell have made discoveries estimated at 2.6 billion barrels, with production in the southern African country expected from about 2030. There have been discoveries in the Orange Basin, and there are other prospective areas, including the Luderitz, Kavango, and Walvis basins.
Earlier this year, Chevron Namibia Exploration agreed to assume an 80% operated interest in PEL 82 in the Walvis Basin offshore Namibia. Existing co-venturers NAMCOR and Custos Energy will each retain a 10% carried interest in the license, which covers blocks 2112B and 2212A. About 70% of the total block area is covered by more than 3,500 km of 2D and 9,500 sq km of 3D seismic data. Previous drilling activity on PEL 82 included the Wingat-1 light oil discovery well and the Murombe-1 dry-hole well.
According to Custos, results confirmed a regional extension and presence of the Barremian Aptian oil-prone source rock (Kudu shale). Wingat-1 well recovered 38-41°API oil to surface, while Murombe-1 penetrated the Baobab sands with about 20% porosity.
In an update on June 26, Northern Ocean disclosed a new contract award for the Deepsea Bollsta rig in Namibia’s waters with a subsidiary of an undisclosed company said to be a major operator. The one-well contract, which is estimated to take 63 days, will likely begin in the fourth quarter of 2024. Before kicking off its new contract, the rig will undertake a five-year class survey and there will also likely be a short idle period prior to commencement.
With Odfjell Drilling managing its two high-specification rigs, Northern Ocean believes it has established itself in West Africa and that the Deepsea Bollsta semi-sub continues to demonstrate the efficiencies of utilizing a sixth-generation semi-submersible in this region. The 2020-built Deepsea Bollsta sixth-generation semi-submersible rig is of Moss CS60E design and can accommodate 140 people.
The rig can carry out operations in both benign and harsh environments at water depths of up to 3,000 meters. During the first quarter of 2024, the firm’s other semi-submersible rig, Deepsea Mira, continued to operate under its drilling contract with TotalEnergies in Namibia. After the quarter ended, the rig moved to Congo under the drilling contract where it embarked on drilling operations for the French energy heavyweight.
The current firm term of the drilling contract ends in October 2024. With the new contract award for the Deepsea Bollsta rig in the bag and the current drilling contract for the Deepsea Mira rig still ongoing, the offshore drilling player has an estimated aggregate revenue backlog between US$80 million and US$95 million, excluding bonuses, reimbursable and undeclared options.
“While the current operations are focused on exploration and appraisal wells, with resulting short-term programs and potential lulls in demand in the near term, the success of the exploration bodes well for significant future development opportunities in Namibia.
In Norway, Canada and other harsh environment basins, early indications of increasing activity levels are observed,” highlighted Northern Ocean two weeks ago. “In Norway, any increase in activity, coupled with the recent departure of several drilling units from Norway, will challenge a delicately balanced market and will likely lead to a requirement for incremental supply. The company continues to actively pursue these opportunities in Norway and elsewhere.”
Author: admin
Managing the Namibia Oil and Gas Platform