Benin exploration drilling planned

Dallas-based Hunt Oil is planning to drill at least one offshore Benin, Africa.

Well services firm AGR has been awarded a contract to provide the well project management services for the drilling, with one firm well and an option for a second. 

The plans for exploration drilling offshore Benin, which sits between Togo and Nigeria, come shortly after the country's only oil producing oil field was re-launched. 

The Sèmè field, in the Gulf of Guinea, offshore Benin, was shut-in after 14 years of production, during which time more than 21MMbbl were produced. 

Benin started producing oil in the 1970s, with international help, but output remained low and stopped by the end of the 1990s, when the price of oil became uneconomical, the field was delivering several times more water than it was producing oil, and funds for operations dried up. South Atlantic Petroleum (SAPETRO) took over the block in 2004.

Read more about Sèmè: Technologies allow Benin field to produce after more than a decade  and  Benin's minimal facilities

AGR's contract with Hunt Oil, awarded to AGR’s Aberdeen-based team, includes provision of full well management, including rig sourcing, drilling engineering, planning, procurement, regulatory requirements and operational support. 
AGR’s Perth, Australia team has recently completed the drilling for Hunt Oil of one exploration well located offshore north Western Australia.

“AGR is pleased to continue its working relationship with Hunt Oil and is looking forward to planning and executing the wells in Benin,” said Ian Burdis, AGR executive vice president. “This is an important award and in conjunction with other recent contract wins, strengthens AGR’s position as the premier provider of well management and associated services in North and West Africa.”