Canadian oil and gas exploration company CGX has been awarded the Rowan jackup Ralph Coffman, a one-well contract offshore Guyana.
The contract has an estimated duration of 60 days.
According to Offshore, it is expected to start in second quarter of 2019.
The Ralph Coffman, a 240-C Class harsh environment jackup rig, is currently under contract with GulfSlope Energy in the Gulf of Mexico through its current well, which is estimated to conclude in mid-January 2019.
In August, Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman had announced that CGX was set to commence drilling on the Corentyne block as early as the end of this year.
The oil company has already appointed a drilling engineer, who will be in charge of designing its offshore exploration well on the Corentyne Block offshore Guyana. According to Trotman, the Government is excited about the project.
Also in August, CGX announced its next exploration well with an Indigenous naming and blessing ceremony by the historic Aleluya Indigenous Group.
The well named “Utakwaaka” is expected to be drilled in November 2019 in the company’s Corentyne Block offshore Guyana. CGX Executive Chairman, Professor Suresh Narine had said that giving the well an Indigenous name was a departure from the norm in the oil industry.
In late 2017, CGX had said that as part of the renegotiation of its contract with the Government of Guyana, it would relinquish to the Government 25 per cent of the acreage of both the Corentyne and Demerara blocks.
The new work commitments include drilling an exploration well on the Corentyne Block by November 27, 2019; acquiring additional seismic or conducting seismic reprocessing by November 27, 2020; drilling an exploration well by November 27, 2022 in the Demerara Block; completing any additional data processing and planning, and securing all regulatory approvals for the drilling of an exploration well by February 12, 2020; drilling an exploration well by February 12, 2021, and another by February 12, 2023 in the Berbice Block; completing a geochemical survey of a minimum area of 120 square kilometres and commencing a seismic programme defined by the aforementioned geochemical survey by February 12, 2020; completing the seismic programme and completing all processing and interpretation of data by August 12, 2021; and drilling an exploration well by February 12, 2023.
