New milestone for Woodside as Diamond rig completes first Senegal well

Australian energy giant Woodside has completed drilling operations on its first development well on the Sangomar project located offshore Senegal, which is expected to be the country’s first offshore oil development.

Woodside is the operator of the Rufisque Offshore, Sangomar Offshore and Sangomar Deep Offshore (RSSD) joint venture and Senegal’s Petrosen is its partner.

The final investment decision for the project was taken in January 2020 and the joint venture partners have been working since then to develop the Sangomar resource.

Woodside started the drilling campaign for the Sangomar Field Development Phase 1 in mid-July 2021, using the Diamond Offshore-owned drillship, Ocean BlackRhino.

In mid-2022, the Rhino will be joined by another Diamond-owned rig, Ocean BlackHawk. The well-based contracts for both of these drillships were inked back in April 2019. Both rigs will operate out of the Senegal Supply Base, located at Mole 1 in the Port of Dakar.

In an update over the weekend, Petrosen reported that drilling operations on the first horizontal development well on the Sangomar field, named SNP-20, had been successfully completed.

Petrosen added that results from the well were above expectations, driven by the use of modern and innovative technologies.

Following Petrosen’s update, Offshore Energy has reached out to Woodside, seeking confirmation and further details about the well but the company is yet to respond.

The Sangomar Field Development Phase 1 will consist of a stand-alone FPSO, named Leopold Sédar Senghor, with a production capacity of approximately 100,000 barrels per day, 23 subsea wells, and supporting subsea infrastructure. This phase of the development will target approximately 230 million barrels of crude oil. First oil production is expected in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Japan’s FPSO operator MODEC will supply the FPSO for the project and will also be in charge of its operations and maintenance. The operations and maintenance contract will cover all in-country installation and commissioning activities following which an initial 10-year operations and maintenance term will start.

A very large crude carrier (VLCC), which will be converted into the FPSO for Sangomar, arrived at the COSCO shipyard in China in mid-February 2021. Woodside announced the beginning of conversion work, which will take around two years, at the end of March.

Meanwhile, Woodside has recently made a move to take over the oil and gas business from compatriot BHP. The expanded Woodside would be owned 52 per cent by existing Woodside shareholders and 48 per cent by existing BHP shareholders. The completion is expected in the second quarter of 2022.