Deep Sea Mooring expands into Egypt with Maersk Drilling

Deep Sea Mooring (DSM) has won the contract to provide a comprehensive range of mooring services to Maersk Drilling for its sixth generation, semi-submersible drilling rig Maersk Discoverer. DSM will now design, engineer and install the mooring system for the advanced rig.

“This is the first time we’ve worked with Maersk Drilling and the first time we’ve undertaken operations in Egypt,” comments Age Straume, CEO of Deep Sea Mooring. “So, it’s a very significant contract for us and allows us to demonstrate how our extensive experience of installing mooring systems in the harsh environment of the North Sea can be transferred to new territories.”

DSM will take the project from conception to completion designing the complete mooring spread, defining operational procedures, mobilising and demobilising all equipment in both Norway and Egypt, pre-installing the anchors prior to rig arrival, and hooking up the rig when it arrives on location.

“This is a complex assignment,” he states, “with water depths of 930 m entailing high loads and a need to design a robust, high-quality and streamlined mooring solution. It’s the kind of challenge our experienced team thrive on and one we’ve successfully tackled for leading players in the energy industry, such as Statoil, in the North Sea, and Husky Energy, off the coast of Newfoundland. It’s exciting to be given the opportunity to showcase our expertise with a new client of A.P Moeller-Maersk’s standing.”

In addition, Bergen-headquartered DSM will provide all base operations and personnel for the mooring and hook-up task. Once in place, Maersk Discoverer, a GustoMSC DSS 21 rig capable of drilling to 10,000 m, will work the BP prospect.

Providing useful resources, articles and writings on crude oil, other petroleum products, energy and gas. By Providencehelp Worldwide Foundation, online.

Fugro strengthens Africa presence with Geofor buy

Fugro has completed the acquisition of the Geofor Group based in Libreville (Gabon), Douala (Cameroon), Pointe Noire (Republic of Congo) and São Tomé City (São Tomé) to strengthen its presence in the Central Africa region and the French speaking African countries. In addition to its longer established offices, Geofor has significant working experience in Niger, Chad and Equatorial Guinea.

Geofor is an onshore/nearshore geotechnical company, which delivers drilling services and has highly specialized engineers and geologists in the fields of geotechnical consulting, hydrology, and land survey.

The company was established in 1989 and has over 25 years of experience working in most countries in Africa. The client base includes major oil and gas companies and key mining clients. In addition, Geofor is active in infrastructure and water supply projects.

Providing useful resources, articles and writings on crude oil, other petroleum products, energy and gas. By Providencehelp Worldwide Foundation, online.

Tangiers Petroleum commences drilling at TAO-1 well

The TAO-1 well is located within a proven petroleum system, adjacent to the Cap Juby heavy oil discovery and has been designed to test up to three stacked objectives, Assaka (Upper Jurassic), Trident (Middle Jurassic) and TMA (Lower Jurassic, contingent upon success at Trident/Assaka).
 
The secondary objective, Assaka, and the main objective at Trident are scheduled to be intersected within approximately 2 months. Contingent upon the results at Assaka and Trident, the Joint Venture will then make a decision to deepen to the TMA objective. The well plan does not include flow testing.
 
The company expects to make additional updates as appropriate during the course of the drilling.
 
Tangiers has a 25% participating interest in the Tarfaya Offshore Block, which is being operated by Galp Energia with a 50% interest. The remaining 25% interest is held by ONHYM (Morocco’s National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines), which is carried through the exploration phase.

Providing useful resources, articles and writings on crude oil, other petroleum products, energy and gas. By Providencehelp Worldwide Foundation, online.

Ophir Energy gives upadte on Okala-1, Gabon

Ophir Energy has reported that drilling operations have now concluded on the Okala-1 well in the Mbeli Block offshore Gabon. Ophir has a 50% net operated interest.

The well was drilled by the Vantage Titanium Explorer drillship to a depth of 4,229 m MD targeting Cretaceous sands in the pre-salt section. The well encountered a thick section of Aptian salt as prognosed and well developed sandstones in the Gamba and Dentale formations.

However, there were no significant hydrocarbon shows in the target reservoirs. Ophir’s share of the Okala-1 well costs was partially covered by carries from the company’s JV partners.

The Vantage Titanium Explorer will now move to Equatorial Guinea to begin a campaign of three exploration and appraisal wells on Block R.

Providing useful resources, articles and writings on crude oil, other petroleum products, energy and gas. By Providencehelp Worldwide Foundation, online.