Drilling drive: Santos retains jack-up for more Aussie offshore wells
Noble Tom Prosser has six firm wells ahead of it including at least three exploration
Australian operator Santos has retained an offshore jack-up drilling rig for an additional three wells following its current multi-well exploration and infill campaigns.
Santos took possession of the jack-up Noble Tom Prosser in May 2021 for a contract expected to conclude in February 2022.
The owner of the rig - Noble Corporation - said in its quarterly results it had been awarded a new contract with Santos for three firm wells offshore Australia that would be in direct continuation of the rig's current contract.
According to Noble's fleet status report, Santos has nine one-well options beyond the contract concluding in February.
Santos is currently using the rig at the Bayu/Undan field offshore Timor-Leste where it is drilling the third of three infill wells.
The rig will next mobilise to the Carnarvon basin to drill the Dancer gas prospect, seven kilometres from Santos' Reindeer field.
After that, the high-profile oil prospects - Pavo and Apus - will be drilled in the Dorado area of the Bedout sub-basin.
The Noble Tom Prosser is an F&G JU-3000N design built in 2014 and rated for operations in water depths of up to 400 feet.
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