Providence Resources Contract ‘Drill-Ship’ to Create Oil Well Off Irish Coast
Providence Resources announced on Thursday, November 24, that a Stena IceMAX drill ship had been contracted to drill an exploration well at the Druid and Drombeg sites, about 220 kilometers off the southwest coast of Ireland. The Stena IceMAX is a modern, harsh-environment, dual-derrick drill-ship designed to operate in water depths of up to 3 kilometers. The Contract provides for one firm well, plus an additional option, which is electable at the discretion of the JV Partners for the drilling of a second follow-on well. The operational rig rate is $185,000 per day.
Chief Executive of Providence Tony O’Reilly said: “Our previous exploration collaboration project with Schlumberger highlighted the significant hydrocarbon potential of FEL 2/14 which we will now be evaluating using the high specification Stena IceMAX drill-ship. The signing of this rig contract is a major milestone in the project plan to enable the drilling of this high impact exploration well during summer 2017.”
Previous analysis of the sites found that Druid and Drombeg were both consistent with a highly porous, light oil-filled sandstone reservoir systems. Geomechanical analysis indicated that the resevoirs were normally pressured and the top seal is intact.
