Total E&P Suriname submitted a conditional letter of award to Maersk Drilling for use of Maersk Developer and Maersk Valiant deepwater rigs for an exploration and appraisal project in Block 58 offshore Suriname. The campaign is expected to commence in early 2021, with estimated combined duration of 500 days.
Maersk Developer is column-stabilized dynamically positioned semisubmersible rig able to operate in water depths up to 10,000 ft. It was delivered in 2009 and is currently operating offshore Suriname.
Maersk Valiant is a high-specification 7th generation drillship with integrated MPD capability which was delivered in 2013. It is currently warm-stacked in Aruba after finishing a campaign in Mexico earlier this year.
The contract is valued by the service provider at $100 million, including rig upgrades and integrated services provided.
Total and Apache Corp. in December 2019 formed a joint venture to explore the block (OGJ Online, Dec. 23, 2019). Apache served as operator for the first three exploration wells before transferring operatorship to Total (OGJ Online, July 29, 2020).