Stena Drilling Secures West Africa Contract

Stena Drilling Secures West Africa Contract
FAR Gambia Ltd. has contracted the Stena IceMAX drillship for a one-well campaign later this year offshore The Gambia. PHOTO SOURCE: Stena Drilling

FAR Gambia Ltd. (ASX: FAR) has contracted the Stena IceMAX drillship for a one-well campaign later this year offshore The Gambia, Stena Drilling reported this week.

With an approximate 30-day duration, drilling in Block A2 is slated to begin between October 1 and November 30, Stena noted in a written statement.

“We look forward to working with FAR, and well management contractor Exceed, to complete this campaign,” stated Stena.

Separately, FAR pointed out the Bambo-1 well is designed to drill into three prospects with a total 1.1-billion-barrel estimated recoverable prospective resource. FAR stated the target reservoirs include:

  • Soloo, which extends from the hydrocarbon-bearing reservoirs in the adjacent Sangomar oil field offshore Senegal
  • Bambo and Soloo Deep, which are undrilled prospects from the Senegal drilling campaigns.

“We are pleased to be recommencing exploration drilling at FAR with this high-impact well in The Gambia and the same drill team that drilled efficiently for the Samo-well in 2018,” commented FAR Managing Director Cath Norman. “The rig is planned to commence drilling in Q4 this year and the well will be the first well to be drilled in the Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bisseau, and Guinea-Conakry (MSGBC) Basin since the collapse of the market in the wake of the oil price crash and the COVID-19 pandemic and we look forward to getting back to the basics at FAR and delivering value to our shareholders through successful exploration drilling.”

FAR stated that a successful Bambo-1 discovery could lead to a standalone development that would be The Gambia’s first oil production. The operator noted that it plans to drill Bambo-1 to a target depth of 10,715 feet (3,266 meters) in 3,258 feet (993 meters) of water. The drilling location is 53 miles (85 kilometers) offshore and 1,640 feet (500 meters) south of the Senegal-Gambia border, the firm added.

“A discovery of oil offshore The Gambia would be extremely significant for FAR shareholders and the people The Gambia and help move Gambia out of ‘energy poverty’ and to transition from burning heavy fuel oil for power generation,” remarked Norman.

FAR stated that it holds a 50% working interest in the A2 and A5 permits with joint venture partner PC Gambia Ltd, which is a unit of PETRONAS (KLSE: PETGAS). According to Stena Drilling’s website, the Stena IceMAX is currently located in Mexico’s Bay of Campeche.

To contact the author, email mveazey@rigzone.com.



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