Africa Drilling & Completion News

Seadrill has taken delivery of the semisubmersible drilling rig West Orion from Jurong Shipyard.

Cairn Energy PLC has P&A'd the M'Sela West 1 exploration well offshore Tunisia in the Louza block without testing.

Jurong Shipyard Pte has signed a letter of intent with Seadrill negotiating the sale of a harsh environment CJ70 jackup.

Seadrill has acquired further shares in drilling contractor Scorpion, lifting its holding in the company to 40.1%.

ENI and Sonangol have two new deepwater oil discoveries in Angola’s block 15/06.

Pride International took delivery of its first of four new drillship, Deep Ocean Ascension, in February. The new deepwater drillships are being built by Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea. The rig is scheduled to begin drilling in the US Gulf of Mexico in the third quarter under a five-year contract with BP.

Total subsidiary TEPA (Block 17/06) Ltd. and Sociedad Nacional de Combustiveis de Angola (Sonangol EP) report a hydrocarbon discovery in the northeastern part of deepwater block 17/06 offshore Angola.

Tap Oil has signed an agreement with the Ghana National Petroleum to exploration of the Offshore Accra Contract Area.

Transocean has extended its drilling contract offshore southeast Nigeria with the Afren/Oriental Energy/Amni International partnership.

Tullow Oil continues to assess the exploration potential of its 32,500-sq km (1,255-sq mi) Guyane Maritime block offshore French Guiana.

Ownership of the offshore area containing the recently reported Dzata 1 discovery is in dispute between Ghana and the Ivory Coast, according to a report by Dow Jones.

The semisubmersible drilling rig West Orion has been christened at Jurong Shipyard, Singapore, and is on track to be delivered early in the second quarter to Seadrill.

Dominion Petroleum has raised £32.7 million ($50 million) through a planned placing of new ordinary shares, which will be applied toward the funding of the company’s drilling program and seismic acquisition in East Africa.

The Dzata-1 well in the Cape Three Points block in the Gulf of Guinea has hit pay, says operator Vanco.

Tunisian authority Comite Consultatif des Hydrocarbures has approved AuDAX Resources’ work program to drill one exploration well to 3,000 m (9,843 ft) in the Kerkouane permit offshore Tunisia.

Harrington Dubai has contracted the Saipem jackup Perro Negro 3 for a six-month drilling program in the Persian Gulf, with an option for a further 18 months.

After a year that brought bankruptcies across the industrial, financial, and retail sectors – and oil prices under $40 a barrel – 2010 cannot help but look better. Many offshore rig owners are looking for a recovery now that 2009 is behind them.

Dana Petroleum has started drilling two wells offshore Egypt, and plans at least two further wells in its offshore concessions this year.

Afren, Oriental Energy Resources and Energy Equity Resources (EER) have are teaming up to explore and develop the OML 115 concession off southeast Nigeria.

Gross oil production from the Zhao Dong C and D fields in China’s Bohai Bay averaged 14,678 b/d in the final quarter of 2009, according to operator ROC Oil.

A subsidiary of Bowleven has awarded Plexus Holdings a contract for the supply of POS-GRIP wellhead systems and drilling services, offshore Cameroon.

Cairn Energy will drill an exploration well on the Louza block offshore Tunisia in the next few months, using the jackup Ensco 85.

Bowleven has a rig to drill its Etinde permit offshore Cameroon.

An appraisal well on the deepwater Tweneboa discovery offshore Ghana has intersected a large hydrocarbon column, according to operator Tullow Oil.