Total has set its sights on drilling a fresh wildcat off Mauritania this year after declaring its first of two options on a drillship that is currently working for the French major off neighbouring Senegal, write Eoin O'Cinneide and Barry Morgan.

The Pacific Santa Ana is set to drill the Richat-1 well after Total is finished at the Jamm-1XB wildcat on the Rufisque Deep block off Senegal.

The Richat prospect has recently been renamed, which is common practice in Mauritania before drilling starts. It was previously known as Yaboy. The well is likely to be drilled on Total’s C-9 block, which it operates on 90%.

Jamie Collard, analyst at Westwood Global Energy Group, said that the main play Total is targeting on Block C-9 is expected to be Late Cretaceous deep-water basin floor fan sands of the Nouakchott River System, which is different to Kosmos Energy's success further south in the Senegal River System.

Total was set to have resumed drilling on Jamm-1XB by the end of last week after drilling was halted on 21 June following an unspecified problem with the blowout preventer stack on the rig.

A source close to operations told Upstream the problem was minor and has been rectified, with neither the rig nor its crew having to come off station and move to shore.

However, another source said the crew were ordered off the rig in the second half of June and sent ashore to Senegal’s capital, Dakar, for three weeks.

Total started drilling on the well in April. Pacific’s latest fleet status report indicates the charter was due to finish in May.

The well was initially named Jamm-1X. However, before drilling started, Total shifted the rig a small distance, thought to be as little as 10 metres. This necessitated a name change to Jamm-1XB.

Total operates Rufisque Deep on 60% and is joined by Malaysian state giant Petronas on 30% and Senegalese state player Petrosen on 10%. The block is situated in water depths of between 100 and 3000 metres.

Petronas has declared its option on the rig for phase two plug-and-abandonment work on its operated Chinguetti field off Mauritania. UK services player Expro said this week it has been awarded a $20 million contract to provide intervention riser system (IRS) services on the rig for that decommissioning job. Expro will provide the IRS along with surface support equipment on the Pacific Santa Ana, with the contract having an estimated duration of 360 days.

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French giant exercises option for Pacific Santa Ana Mauritania job