Stena Forth will be the company’s fourth drillship to be equipped with a managed pressure drilling system
Aberdeen-based driller Stena Drilling has unveiled plans to upgrade a fourth drillship in its fleet with a managed pressure drilling (MPD) system.
Stena confirmed it purchased an MPD kit for the Stena Forth, which is currently drilling the Goliathberg Voltzberg North-1 exploration well for Anglo-Irish independent Tullow Oil in Block 47 off Suriname.
Late last year, prior to starting its contract with Tullow, the Stena Forth was upgraded in Las Palmas, Canary Islands, with the pipework and cabling required for the future installation of MPD.
According to Stena, the order for the equipment has been placed, with delivery expected between the third and fourth quarter.
“The purchase of this additional managed pressure drilling system means that the Stena Forth will join the Stena Carron, Stena DrillMax and Stena IceMax as being MPD operational,” the company said.
Stena has drilled ten MPD wells since 2016 and intends to spud a further ten this year alone, with the bulk of activity expected to take place in the Guyana-Suriname basin.
The drillship Stena Carron is chartered to US supermajor ExxonMobil and on the verge of concluding the Bulletwood-1 wildcat in the Canje block.
Upon completion of Bulletwood-1, the rig will return to the prolific Stabroek block to spud the Koebi-1 exploration well.
The drillship Stena DrillMax is set to arrive in Guyana next month to start its six-month contract with ExxonMobil.
It will be used initially to spud the Longtail-3 appraisal well and then the Whiptail-1 wildcat in May.
The drillship Stena IceMax earlier this month struck oil with the Perseverance-1 exploration well for Bahamas Petroleum Company off the Bahamas, but the volumes discovered were deemed non-commercial.
Stena’s fleet availability shows the Stena Forth on a long-term contract until March 2022.
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From Upstream | Issued February 17, 2021
