Jack-up rig sets the seal on drilling campaign offshore Oman

Masirah Oil, a subsidiary of Singapore’s Rex International, has wrapped up a multi-well drilling program at a field in the Block 50 concession off the coast of Oman with a recently hired jack-up rig.

After picking the Energy Emerger jack-up rig, operated by Northern Offshore, to undertake the drilling and completion of a new in-field well and the work-over of two existing production wells at the Yumna field, Masirah Oil began drilling operations at the Yumna-5 well on March 28, 2024, at the crest of the structure to drain attic oil left un-swept by the current producers.

While the well came online on April 26, 2024, evaluation of its performance is ongoing. The company’s multi-well program also included a work-over of the Yumna-4 well, on top of originally planned work-overs of Yumna-2 and Yumna-3. The 2017-built Energy Emerger jack-up rig is of a GustoMSC CJ46-X100-D design.

With a maximum drilling depth of 30,000 ft, the rig can work in water depths up to 375 ft. While Masirah Oil has a 100% interest in the Block 50 concession, Rex International holds an effective interest of 91.81% in the company. The field development plan (FDP) for Yumna was approved in July 2020 by Oman’s Ministry of Oil and Gas.

Upon the completion of the drilling of three exploration prospects, located near the Yumna field offshore Oman, back in April 2021, upgrades were made to the field’s production facilities from February to April 2022, leading to a new floating storage tanker, certified to be in the field for several years without dry-docking, being put in place instead of the previous one.

Covering approximately 17,000 sq km, the Block 50 offshore concession is located in the Gulf of Masirah, east of Oman. Masirah’s multi-well program was completed on June 8, 2024, ahead of the 90-day schedule and below budget. Currently, production from the Yumna field is being optimized, pending plans to improve and boost the flowline’s water and oil production capacity, following the monsoon season in September 2024.

The completion of work on fusing the oil and gas portfolios of two affiliates into a new joint venture (JV) established in Norway will enable Rex to curb its effective interests in Lime Petroleum to 76.75% and boost its stake in Porto Novo Resources to 83.74%.