Noble drillship’s drilling gig in full gear offshore West Africa

A seventh-generation drillship, which recently became part of the floater fleet belonging to the U.S. offshore drilling contractor Noble Corporation, is making progress in its drilling campaign off the coast of West Africa, which is related to work offshore Guinea-Bissau.

A one-well drilling deal was secured in November 2023 for the Ocean BlackRhino drillship, covering work offshore Guinea-Bissau. With a minimum duration of 30 days, representing $15.4 million of additional backlog, excluding mobilization, the work under the contract was slated to begin in July 2024. At the time, the rig was on a drilling campaign in Senegal with Woodside Energy.  

The drillship reached the Atum-1x prospect off the coast of Guinea-Bissau in late August 2024, according to AGR, part of ABL Group, which is providing well management consultancy for this exploration well in the Sinapa license, on behalf of Apus Energia Guinea-Bissau.

While PetroNor agreed to transfer its 100% interest in the Sinapa (Block 2) and Esperança (Blocks 4A and 5) exploration licenses offshore Guinea-Bissau to Apus Energia in June 2023, the completion of the Guinea Bissau farm-down transaction took place in December 2023.

The acquisition came with a price tag of up to $85 million, covering past license costs of at least $25 million on completion of the transaction, and two contingent payments of $30 million subject to government approval of a field development plan and the subsequent achievement of continuous production.

Lynden Duthie, MD Well Management, commented: “The project team’s primary focus is to deliver the well safely and efficiently, ensuring all operations meet the highest safety standards. The team is working closely together to achieve this goal and deliver the well on target.”

These licenses span a total area of 4,963 sq km and contain two main prospects, Atum and Anchova, thought to contain prospective resources of 467 MMbbl. AGR’s scope entails consultancy in well construction, drilling engineering, procurement, supply chain management, and operational drilling supervision.

“We are pleased to announce that the drilling operations for the highly anticipated Atum-1X deepwater well, off the coast of Guinea-Bissau, West Africa, are progressing as planned,” emphasized AGR.

Once its assignment with Apus Energy ends, the Ocean BlackRhino drillship is expected to begin its new contract with Beacon Offshore Energy in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, valued at $89 million for 180 days, excluding mobilization, and any additional services. The contract also includes two six-month options.

The 2014-built Ocean BlackRhino is an ultra-deepwater drillship from Hyundai Heavy Industries, which comes with dynamic-positioning, dual-activity capability, maximum hook-load capacity of 1,250 tons, water depth capabilities up to 12,000 feet, and drilling depth capabilities up to 40,000 feet. 

The rig was part of Diamond Offshore’s fleet until the merger with Noble Corporation’s fleet was wrapped up with the latter taking over the former’s entire fleet to 41 rigs, encompassing 28 floaters and 13 jack-ups.

“Excellent dedication by the BlackRhino crew, offshore Guinea-Bissau,” said Noble in acknowledgment of the rig’s current performance in West Africa.