Carnarvon Petroleum Limited has awarded the drilling management services contract for its Buffalo-10 well, located offshore of Timor-Leste in the Bonaparte Basin. The contract will include completion of detailed well design, procurement of long-lead items and contracting the drilling rig and associated services, including the shore base location.
The objective is to drill the Buffalo-10 well in the second half of 2021. The well is targeting the crest of the proven Buffalo oil field and will be suspended as a future production well.
On 17 December 2020, Carnarvon announced a binding agreement with Advance Energy Plc (Advance) where they will acquire up to a 50 per cent interest in the Buffalo project by funding the drilling of the Buffalo-10 well up to US$20 million on a free carry basis.
In addition to this, the newly formed joint venture will acquire development funding from third-party lenders and any additional funding requirements (in addition to that provided by third-party lenders) will be provided by Advance as an interest-free loan.
Carnarvon and Advance have made material progress in satisfying the conditions in relation to the farm-out and look forward to completing the transaction at the end of this quarter.
Carnarvon Managing Director and CEO, Adrian Cook, said he is pleased to see substantial progress on the Buffalo project since announcing the farm-out to Advance Energy in December 2020.
“Petrofac is an established and highly experienced global energy services provider and is well suited to ensure the success in the Buffalo project. They have already made encouraging progress in assessing our well plans, reviewing drilling rig alternatives and assessing the necessary long lead items for drilling,” Mr Cook said.
“The Buffalo redevelopment opportunity is well placed for success given its known production capability and low development cost and will be greatly enhanced as oil prices continue their recovery.”
“We look forward to an exciting year with drilling at the Buffalo Project as well as our Dorado FEED activities and the Apus-1 and Pavo-1 exploration drilling campaign,” he added.
Carnarvon’s full announcement can be found here.
