Providence Resources is putting a tender for a rig contract for the 2017 Druid drilling program in the southern Porcupine Basin in FEL 2/14, off the south west coast of Ireland.
It is expected that the rig contract will be signed during Q4 2016 to facilitate summer 2017 drilling, with the first well planned for June 2017.
The detailed well engineering and design for the 2017 Druid exploration well is continuing with the well currently being designed to TD at a depth of some 4200m true vertical depth subsea (TVDSS), which allows for a full evaluation of the resource potential of the Paleocene Druid exploration prospect.
The well is also being designed to allow for a potential deepening of the well to encounter the underlying vertically stacked Lower Cretaceous Drombeg prospect at about 5200m TVDSS. This deepening could occur should the Druid exploration well be drilled significantly within the current budget and/or if a third party farminee were to provide additional capital to the project.
The latest gross (100%) well cost for the Druid exploration well is now estimated at approximately US$35 million, which compares to the previous estimate of $46 million.
Providence confirmed that other service contracts are now being prepared for the planned Druid drilling operations. Based on the latest project timeline and, subject to standard regulatory consents, the 53/6-A Druid exploration well is currently expected to spud in June 2017.
“We are making solid progress with our planned drilling operations in FEL 2/14 for summer 2017,” Tony O’Reilly, Providence chief executive said. “Our base case program continues to be a test of the c. 3 billion bbl resource potential of the Druid exploration prospect. We are, however, also engineering the planned well to allow for the penetration of the underlying c. 1.9 billion bbl Drombeg exploration prospect should the opportunity arise.”
The license, which also contains the Dromberg prospect, is operated by Providence Resources with 80% stake. Partner Sosina Exploration holds the remaining 20%.
Image of Druid Paleocene Fan - 3D perpective, courtesy of TGS and ION.
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