Eni’s Nigerian subsidiary Agip Exploration has chartered Pacific Drilling’s Pacific Bora drillship for drilling operations offshore Nigeria.
The article has been updated with a statement by Pacific Drilling.
The contract for one firm well is valued $9 million. Agip will have two additional option wells. According to Pacific Drilling, the contract is expected to start in mid to late November 2018.
To remind, the contract follows a letter of intent signed between the two companies, as announced in August, when Pacific Drilling said the well would take approximately 90 days of work, at a dayrate of $150,000, meaning the firm contract would be $13.5 million.
It was not immediately clear if the drilling duration was still expected to be the same. If it was, it would’ve meant the dayrate had been lowered to $100.000.
David Carter Shinn , Partner at Bassoe Offshore, thought the dayrate was unchanged: “We still estimate a dayrate of about $150k for this contract. What likely happened is that they have reduced the estimated days to complete the well.”
Mr. Shinn was right as Pacific Drilling subsequently confirmed this in a statement sent to Offshore Energy Today on Tuesday afternoon.
Pacific Drilling spokesperson said: “Based on our current discussions with Eni, we expect each well to last approximately 60 days. The $150,000 dayrate is still in effect.”
Related: Pacific Drilling could soon have five rigs drilling simultaneously
Commenting on the deal with Eni, Pacific Drilling Chief Executive Officer Paul Reese said: “On the heels of our previous announcement of new work for Pacific Santa Ana in Mauritania, we are pleased to have secured this contract for the Bora which reflects our substantial experience in Nigeria and our uninterrupted commitment to providing exceptional drilling services to our clients.”
The Pacific Bora is currently located offshore Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. The drilling rig is a sixth generation deepwater, dynamically-positioned drillship capable of operating in water depths up to 10,000 feet and drilling wells more than 37,000 feet deep.
Offshore Energy Today Staff