London-based Energean has commenced drilling activities at a well on the Anchois natural gas field off Morocco’s coast, deploying the Stena Forth drillship owned by Aberdeen-based offshore drilling contractor, Stena Drilling.
Energean’s involvement in Morocco began with strategic partnerships to assume the operator role at the Lixus and Rissana offshore licenses.
The Stena Forth drillship has arrived at the Lixus Offshore license, where Chariot holds a 30% stake, along with partners Energean (45%) and National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines (ONHYM) with 25%.
Stena Drilling secured a one-well firm assignment for the Anchois gas field, with an option to drill an additional well in Morocco.
The 2009-built Stena Forth, a sixth-generation harsh environment dual-activity dynamically positioned drillship, was recently deployed for this task after completing a special periodic survey (SPS) at Astilleros Canarios (Astican) in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
Chariot, Energean’s partner in this venture, confirmed the drillship’s arrival at the Anchois-3 well site, marking the start of drilling operations.
The Anchois-3 well, a multi-objective operation, is part of the broader Anchois gas project.
Drilling and flow testing are expected to take approximately two months, with Chariot fully carried for the estimated costs of this drilling campaign.
Energean’s entry into Morocco’s offshore energy sector represents a significant move in the company’s strategy to enhance its presence in the Mediterranean.
The successful completion of the Anchois-3 well could further bolster the resource base for both Energean and Chariot.
The drilling will then target the deeper Anchois North Flank prospect, which has an additional 2U prospective resource estimate of 213 Bcf.
This phase will also de-risk the nearby Anchois South Flank prospect, estimated to hold 372 Bcf.
Following the drilling, well flow testing will be conducted on selected gas sands to evaluate the reservoir’s productivity.
The well will then be suspended, allowing it to serve as a potential future production site.