Sirius seeks extension to Ororo field license amid drilling plan delays

Sirius Petroleum is seeking a further extension from Nigerian authorities to the term of its Ororo field license off Nigeria amid delays with its drilling program on the field.

Following a previous report from late February when the Shelf Drilling-owned Adriatic-1 jack-up drilling rig approached total well depth at a license adjacent to Ororo, Sirius said on Friday that the rig has now reached target depth on its current operation and is concluding the testing and logging program.

The company is awaiting a further update from Shelf Drilling regarding the release of the Adriatic-1, which is currently stationed in the adjacent license to the Ororo field.

In order to preserve its current license, the company is required to bring the Ororo field into production on or before May 1, 2019. Therefore, given the approaching timeline, the company has taken the decision to seek a further extension to the term of the license from the Department of Petroleum Resources in Nigeria, which has already been granted on two previous occasions.

To remind, Sirius broke off its previous commitment to use the COSL-owned jack-up rig COSL Force to drill two Ororo wells in favor of Shelf Drilling’s Adriatic-1 rig back in October 2018. This was decided due to maintenance of the COSL Force, which lasted longer than expected causing the delay for Ororo well.

Due to its proximity to the Ororo field, Sirius then contracted the Adriatic-1 jack-up, which was scheduled to become available during November 2018. Sirius also felt that the Adriatic-1 met the specifications required for the company’s proposed drilling program at Ororo-2 and Ororo-3.

After securing the Shelf rig for the Ororo drilling campaign, Sirius said it would spud Ororo-2 at the earliest possible time during 4Q 2018. However, at the end of December 2018 the Adriatic-1 was still stationed in the adjacent oil block to the Ororo field (OML 95) and working on its contract with another operator, which meant another delay for the Ororo well.

Sirius then in February 2019 said that, in the event of delays, it would ask for the extension of the Ororo license term.

Offshore Energy Today Staff

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