Chinese offshore operator CNOOC Ltd has chartered the deep-water drillship Stena IceMax from Stena Drilling for a two-well campaign offshore Gabon, West Africa.

Stena said the two-well programme is scheduled to start from the first quarter of next year and has an estimated total campaign duration of 90 days.

The dynamically-positioned dual mast Stena IceMax is a harsh-environment ice-class drillship with managed pressure drilling capabilities.