Hibiscus Petroleum’s wholly-owned entity, Carnarvon Hibiscus Pty Ltd (CHPL), has signed a rig share agreement for the drilling of an exploration well located in VIC/P57 offshore Australia.
The agreement is signed with Origin Energy Resources Ltd which intends to drill two wells prior to handing over the rig to CHPL. Under the agreement, CHPL will assume the services of the Seadrill West Telesto drilling rig, an independent leg cantilever jack-up rig, to spud and drill the Sea Lion exploration well after the Origin’s drilling activities. The drilling of the Sea Lion exploration well is estimated to take up to 30 days.
The agreement also provides CHPL with an option to drill two West Seahorse development wells immediately following Sea Lion. The company says that the Rig Share Agreement with Origin was chosen for several reasons, including the significant savings gained for sharing of the mobilisation and demobilisation costs, certainty of the rig’s availability period, strong past operating performance, crew competence and good health, safety and environment record.
Commenting on the award, Dr Kenneth Pereira , Managing Director of Hibiscus Petroleum said, “After months of planning, we are excited to get our drilling program in VIC/P57 underway. If successful, Sea Lion would be developed as a tie-back to West Seahorse, fully utilizing the planned West Seahorse facilities and providing a cost effective solution for the development of Sea Lion.”
The Sea Lion exploration prospect which is targeted to be drilled in the 2nd quarter of 2015, has been selected for drilling after in-depth technical and economic evaluation, with estimated prospective resources of about 11 million barrels. CHPL currently has a 50.1% participating interest in VIC/P57, while the balance is held by 3D Oil Limited.
Pursuant to various agreements signed between CHPL, 3D Oil and Hirex Petroleum Sdn Bhd (HIREX, a 41% jointly controlled entity of Hibiscus Petroleum) on 4 July 2014, CHPL will acquire a further 5% interest in VIC/P57 whilst HIREX has an option to acquire a 20% interest in VIC/P57 exploration permit from 3D Oil.
Press Release
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