Twinza: COSL Seeker rig leaves for Pasca drilling site

Twinza Oil has informed that the COSL Seeker jack-up drilling rig has left the Port Moresby Harbour for its drilling location in the Gulf of Papua.

According to the oil company, this was the first time residents of Port Moresby had the opportunity of seeing a modern jack-up drilling rig capable of working in water depths of up to 375 feet and capable of drilling to 30,000 ft below the seabed.

“This is a rare occurrence as it is almost exactly 17 years since the last jack-up drilling rig operated in Papua New Guinea,” the company said on Friday.

The COSL Seeker was brought into Port Moresby on Thursday by the heavy lift vessel Xiang Rui Kou which was ballasted down this morning and the rig floated off.

The rig will be towed to the Pasca A4 drilling site over the next 48 hours by two anchor handling tugs where the rig will be jacked-down on the drilling location. The Pasca A4 well will be the last appraisal well on the Pasca A gas-condensate field and will be extensively evaluated and flow tested. Well operations are expected to continue until the end of October after which the drilling rig will be demobilised.

Post drilling the Pasca A4 well will be suspended as a future development well with the final investment decision expected in early 2018.

In August Twinza signed a fullstream agreement with BHGE such that post FID Twinza and BHGE will work together to provide an integrated gas processing solution from the development wells through to the point of export.

Subsequent installation of the Pasca A production facilities will enable the development of a discovered resource which has lain dormant for nearly 50 years. The Pasca A project will provide the first offshore oil and gas development infrastructure in Papua New Guinea which should be the catalyst for the further integrated development of similar offshore resources in the Gulf of Papua.

Pasca A will also be the first offshore oil and gas development in PNG to produce natural gas liquids (NGLs) in the form of condensate and LPG, and will also produce natural gas.

According to Twinzsa, the project is expected to spur development of relevant offshore skills and services in PNG and will prove a significant boost to the PNG economy, providing government revenues, utilizing local services and providing local employment.

Additionally, the LPG produced from Pasca will be available to reduce imports, and will offer a competitive alternative to imported diesel fuel for power generation. Twinza holds 100% of the Pasca A License and has submitted a development plan for the field that will produce the resource across two phases. Phase I consists of the initial production of natural gas liquids (NGLs), including condensate and LPG, with reinjection of dry gas ahead of Phase II. During Phase II, dry gas will be exported. Twinza is actively exploring marketing and distribution opportunities within PNG and the Pacific region for the natural gas liquids.

Twinza Oil’s Managing Director Huw Evans said: “The drilling of the Pasca A4 well is a key landmark in the development of the Pasca A field which has lain discovered and undeveloped for nearly 50 years. Since the signing of PPL 328 in 2011 Twinza has worked closely with the PNG Ministries and Regulators to advance the Pasca A field development to the point where we believe that first field production can be achieved 24 months after FID. We look forward to the development of the Pasca A field as this would provide increased government revenues, facilitate the development of local services, generate employment and provide Pasca A Natural Gas Liquids to the domestic market to displace and substitute expensive imports of diesel and LPG.”