March 3, 2021, by Nermina KulovicAustralian energy giant Santos...

March 3, 2021, by Nermina Kulovic

Australian energy giant Santos has hired the Noble Corporation-owned Noble Tom Prosser jack-up rig to drill two exploration wells near the Dorado field offshore Australia.

Carnarvon Petroleum, Santos’ partner, confirmed on Wednesday that the Noble Tom Prosser has been hired.

The drilling program for the Pavo-1 and Apus-1 is expected to start in late 2021 with the Pavo-1 well and will be immediately followed by the Apus-1 well.

Both prospects, located in the Bedout basin, have the potential to materially increase the aggregate development resource for the Dorado field if successful.

According to Carnarvon, resources capable of being tied back to existing infrastructure provide significantly enhanced economic outcomes, minimise additional capital investment requirements and shorten time periods to the first production from the tie-back fields.

The Noble Tom Prosser jack-up drilling rig was previously used by Carnarvon and its operating partner in 2019 on the successful Dorado-2 and Dorado-3 appraisal wells.

With the drilling rig contracted, the operator will now proceed to secure the remaining equipment, services, and approvals required to start drilling operations, Carnarvon said.

Pavo-1 well will target 101 mmboe (Pmean, Gross) in a location near the Dorado field and Apus-1 well will target 307 mmboe (Pmean, Gross) also in a location near the Dorado field.

Bassoe Offshore estimates that the Noble Tom Prosser’s day rate under this contract will be $130,000 for a duration of 88 days with start date set for December 2021 and end date for February 2022.

According to Noble’s latest fleet status report, published back in November 2020, the rig has been warm stacked ever since that month.

Carnarvon Managing Director and CEO, Adrian Cook, said: “Given the potential resource size and development aggregation benefits, these two drilling targets provide very attractive and meaningful opportunities for Carnarvon. Today’s news in locking in this rig is another clear point of progression in the advancement of the world class Bedout Basin.

“We are looking forward to an exciting year ahead with multiple drilling operations pr

The Apus prospect, which is around
30 kilometres from the Dorado field,
is at a water depth of 75 metres and
has a shallow depth to the top of the
reservoir of less than 2,500 metres.
This is significant in that reservoir
properties generally improve at
shallower depths and given the
already proven deliverability of the
equivalent reservoirs at Dorado
some 2,000 metres deeper; reservoir
quality is not identified as a risk at
Apus.
The Pavo structure is situated just
over 40 kilometres from the Dorado
field and current analysis suggests
that the primary target trap consists
of a single reservoir layer. Pavo also
has a shallower target depth and a
closer proximity to the Triassic
shoreline than Dorado, which could
result in even better reservoir quality
than at Dorado, as demonstrated by