Empyrean Energy PLC advanced work to drill its first well in China with a contract let to AGR for well planning and engineering on the Jade prospect in Block 29/11.
AGR, owned by Akastor ASA, will provide offset analysis and detailed well design engineering. Initial work on well design is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
Block 29/11 is a 1,806-sq km block in the Pearl River Mouth basin, offshore China, some 200 km southeast of Hong Kong and southeast of the Liuhua oil field complex. Empyrean is operator with 100% of the exploration rights during the exploration phase (OGJ Online, Oct. 2, 2018). China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) granted a 12-month extension to Empyrean for the first phase of exploration drilling on the block in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant global control policies (OGJ Online, June 3, 2020).
In the event of a commercial discovery, CNOOC has a back in right to 51%.