Tullow Oil (Tullow) and project partners plan to spud a wildcat early next year offshore Suriname. The intended drilling will be for the Goliathberg- Voltzberg North prospect (GVN-1) in Block 47.
The Stena Forth drillship has received the contract and will carry out the campaign in Block 47, around 160 miles north of Suriname.
Stena Drilling will mobilise the vessel to the site in late December this year/early January 2021, with plans to begin the campaign in January/February. Stena did not disclose the length of the drilling campaign or the value of the contract.
In a statement, Stena said: ‘Stena Drilling is pleased to be the chosen contractor for this work and look forward to working with Tullow Oil plc and their partners again on this exciting opportunity’.
The vessel is a harsh-environment, dynamically positioned DP Class 3 drillship capable of drilling in water depths up to 10,000 ft. It is currently at anchor in the Mediterranean.
Tullow previously attempted drilling offshore Suriname in 2017 in Block 54. No significant reservoir quality rocks were encountered although logging and sampling proved the presence of gas condensate. The well was plugged and abandoned. The reservoir at Araku-1 was not commercial.
Apache, however, has made two significant discoveries offshore Suriname; the country continues to be very attractive to operators who are looking to repeat the success of Exxon in Guyana. ExxonMobil has also recently farmed into Total’s offshore acreage in Suriname.