Offshore staff
HOUSTON – Brazilian oil and gas operator OGX says it is ready to begin drilling offshore block BM-S-29 with its partner and operator Maersk.
OGX raised its stake in the Santos basin block BM-S-29 to 65% from 50% earlier this year, encouraged by the recent discovery by Repsol of hydrocarbons in an adjacent block. Transocean’s Sovereign Explorer will drill BM-S-29.
“We estimate that the drilling of the well 1-MRK-2-SPS will take approximately three months to reach the five objectives identified,” the company says.
Drilling is on schedule to begin in September for OGX’s other blocks where the company has a 100% stake, the company said.
Drilling will begin in September at the Vesuvio prospect in block BM-C-43 of the Campos basin. The company estimates that Diamond Offshore’s rig Ocean Ambassador will take about 45 days to drill to the objectives. This block is about 85 km (53 mi) from shore at a water depth of 140 m (459 ft).
OGX expects to start drilling four more wells by the end of 2009. Of the six wells to be drilled in Campos and Santos, three will be finalized by the end of the year, the company says. Drilling rigs Sea Explorer and Ocean Quest are expected to arrive in September and November, respectively.
OGX earlier this year opened its state of the art operational support facility with Schlumberger and other suppliers with advanced data transmission technology and specially designed software for real time operations.
08/13/2009
