TotalEnergies adds extra Suriname well to Maersk rig’s backlog

TotalEnergies E&P Suriname, a subsidiary of the French energy major TotalEnergies, has decided to exercise its option for one additional well to be drilled by the Maersk Drilling-owned Maersk Valiant rig.

Maersk Drilling reported on Friday that TotalEnergies’ Suriname branch had exercised an option to add the drilling of one additional well in Block 58 offshore Suriname to the work scope for the drillship Maersk Valiant.

TotalEnergies is the operator of the block and holds a 50 per cent working interest, while APA Suriname holds the remaining 50 per cent. Maersk informed that the contract value of the extension was approximately $20.5 million, including integrated services provided.

The offshore drilling contractor also confirms that two additional one-well options remain on Maersk Valiant’s contract with TotalEnergies. The latest contract extension has an estimated duration of 100 days, with work expected to start in March 2022 in direct continuation of the rig’s previously agreed work scope.

It is worth reminding that following a conditional letter of award from November 2020, Maersk Drilling was awarded contracts in January 2021 for the deepwater rigs Maersk Valiant and Maersk Developer by TotalEnergies for exploration and appraisal project in Suriname’s Block 58.

Maersk Valiant is a high-specification 7^th generation drillship with integrated Managed Pressure Drilling capability which was delivered in 2013 and it is currently operating for TotalEnergies offshore Suriname.

After completing the drilling of the Sapakara South -1 well, the Maersk Valiant drillship moved to drill the Bonboni – 1 well in Block 58 and APA reported the results from flow testing at the Sapakara South appraisal well along with the drilling results from the Bonboni-1 exploration well in November 2021. At the time, APA informed that following the completion of operations at Bonboni, the Maersk Valiant would move to drill the Krabdagu exploration prospect, which is located 18 kilometres east of SPS-1.

To remind, APA claimed that the success at Krabdagu could materially increase the scope and scale of development in the central portion of Block 58, envisioning a potential black oil development hub that would accommodate production from Krabdagu, Sapakara and Keskesi.

As previously reported, after exploratory success in waters offshore Suriname – where several discoveries were made in 2020 – the energy data and analytics company GlobalData also stated last year that the area shows promise to become an oil production hot spot in the near to mid-term.