Senegal wildcat disappoints for Total

https://www.upstreamonline.com/live/1834376/senegal-wildcat-disappoints-for-total


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Senegal wildcat disappoints for Total

French supermajor moves drillship off probe after making non-commercial discovery

Barry Morgan and Eoin O'Cinneide

Paris/London
7 Aug 2019 16:05 GMT Updated 7 Aug 2019 16:18 GMT

Total has moved a drillship off its wildcat off Senegal after the French supermajor made a non-commercial oil discovery, according to industry sources.

The Pacific drilling-owned Pacific Santa Ana has moved off the Jamm-1XB exploration wells, Total's debut probe on the Rufisque Deep block, and is now en route to drill the Richat-1 wildcat off neighbouring Mauritania.

Jamm-1XB is located off the Senegalese capital of Dakar to the north of the Cairn Energy-operated Rufisque-Sangomar-Sangomar Deep (RSSD) block where Australian partners Woodside Petroleum and Far Ltd hope to develop the SNE oilfield.

Total had halted operations on the well on 21 June after blowout preventer stack issues, which were subsequently fixed.

One source previously told Upstream the incident with the BOP – described as minor – occurred before the well had reached total depth.

The well was initially named Jamm-1X. However, before drilling started, Total shifted the rig a small distance – thought to be as little as 10 metres. This necessitated a name change to Jamm-1XB.

Total operates Rufisque Deep on 60% and is joined by Malaysian state giant Petronas on 30% and Senegalese state player Petrosen on 10%. The block is situated in water depths of between 100 and 3000 metres.

However, the Rufisque Deep tract is also claimed by Oslo-listed African Petroleum Corporation (APCL) which is in arbitration with the Senegal government over what it claims was arbitrary revocation of the licence and subsequent illegal re-allocation to Total.

APCL is in talks to merge with fellow Norwegian explorer PetroNor, substantially on the basis of securing agreement to retain equity to Rufisque and other blocks off Senegal and Gambia – negotiations which will likely be impacted by Total’s Jamm-1XB results.