IPB Gets More Time to Find Suitable Rig for Pryderi Well (Australia)

IPB Gets More Time to Find Suitable Rig for Pryderi Well (Australia)

IPB Petroleum Limited has announced that the Commonwealth-Western Australia Offshore Petroleum Joint Authority has granted the WA-424-P Joint Venture (IPB 75%, CalEnergy* 25%) a twelve month suspension and extension to the scheduled Permit Work Programme to allow sufficient time to drill the Pryderi-1 oil exploration well and fully evaluate the results from the well before commencement of the Secondary Term of the Permit.

As a consequence of the tight rig market and scarcity of suitable offshore rigs for drilling the Pryderi-1 well by the Permit’s Year 2 & 3 end date of 12 July 2013, the WA-424-P Joint Venture sought and has been granted a twelve month suspension and extension until 12 July 2014.

The company said that substantial progress has been made to-date towards resubmission of the Joint Venture’s Environmental Plan (EP) and Oil Spill Contingency Plan (OSCP) for the drilling of Pryderi-1 to the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) in April 2013.

Further modification of the EP and OSCP is required by NOPSEMA and is currently planned for resubmission by mid-July 2013. Request for quotes have been issued and received for casing, casing accessories, drill bits, wellheads, geotechnical and geophysical site surveys. Detailed well design is nearing completion. The relatively shallow water depth (~ 80m) at the Pryderi-1 location means the well can be drilled by either a “Semi- Submersible”, or “Jack-Up” drill rig. The WA-424-P Joint Venture has identified a number of potential rigs that may be available towards the end of this calendar year. Subject to the acceptance of the EP and OSCP and other regulatory approvals required for exploration drilling, IPB expects that the WA-424-P Joint Venture will be ready to spud the Pryderi-1 well in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Press Release, July 8, 2013