GulfSlope secures Rowan rig for Gulf of Mexico wells

GulfSlope Energy has executed a drilling services contract with Atlantic Maritime Services LLC, a subsidiary of Rowan Companies, to secure and utilize the Ralph Coffman jack-up rig for its 2018 Gulf of Mexico drilling program.

GulfSlope anticipates spudding the first well in mid-2018 on Vermilion Area, South Addition Block 378 (Canoe Shallow prospect) and the second well on Ship Shoal Area, South Addition Blocks 336 / 351 (Tau prospect) shortly thereafter, the company informed on Monday.

Initial drilling on both prospects is expected to be completed before the end of the year.

The 2009-built Ralph Coffman is a high specification jack-up rig that can drill to 35,000 feet. The rig is currently being mobilized from Trinidad and is anticipated to arrive in the Gulf of Mexico shortly.

According to Rowan’s latest fleet status report issued in October 2017, the rig’s contract with an unnamed operator offshore Trinidad ended in January 2018.

John Seitz, Chairman and CEO of GulfSlope, stated: “The execution of this contract is a critical milestone in advancing the 2018 drilling program under the Participation Agreement announced in January with our partners Delek GOM Investments, LLC and Texas South Energy, Inc. and we are looking forward to unlocking the exciting potential that has been hidden beneath salt.”

To remind, GulfSlope Energy and Texas South Energy in January 2018 entered into a strategic partnership with Delek Group to mutually pursue oil and natural gas opportunities in the Gulf of Mexico. Through the agreement, Delek acquired rights to a 75% record title interest in nine prospects in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the Photon, Quark, Pomeron, Tau, Tanker, Graviton, Tachyon, Selectron, and Canoe.

Seitz added, “Rowan and the GulfSlope management team have drilled successful Gulf of Mexico wells together in this very play, and this combination makes for a powerful team as we begin our drilling campaign.”

Offshore Energy Today Staff