Woodside Energy Ltd., Perth, has let nine conditional contracts for drilling and completion wells for Phase 1 of the SNE oil field development offshore Senegal to Halliburton.
The drilling program will begin late in 2020 or early 2021 and consist of 18 wells with another eight wells optional during a 3-4-year campaign.
The contracts include drilling, logging, cementing, lower completions, e-line/slick line, coiled tubing, and well testing.
Halliburton said it also will invest in Senegal by constructing facilities and hiring local staff and considering the use of local vendors and suppliers for the work.
Initial engineering for the project will begin in Perth late this year and then be transferred to Dakar in 2020.
The contract follows a December 2018 conditional contract to Halliburton for drilling and completion fluid services.
Woodside is operator of the field’s development. The Phase 1 concept is for a stand-along floating production, storage, and offloading facility fed by subsea infrastructure.
The design will enable subsequent development stages with options for possible gas export to shore and future subsea tie-backs from other discoveries in the region.
The contract for the FPSO was let in February to MODEC. The vessel will be moored in 800 m of water and will be able to handle 100,000 b/d of oil.
The field is expected to be brought on stream in 2022.
The current shareholding is Cairn Energy with 40%, Woodside 35% and operatorship of the development phase, FAR Ltd. 15%, and Senegal state-owned Petrosen 10%.
The arbitration of a dispute between FAR and Woodside over Woodside’s equity in the SNE field project has yet to be resolved, with the International Chamber of Commerce expected to make a ruling by yearend.
FAR brought the arbitration over the sale by ConocoPhillips of 35% interest in the SNE project in 2016 to Woodside for $350 million.
FAR, which was an original member of the SNE consortium, contended that it was denied preemptive rights over the ConocoPhillips stake. Woodside dismissed this claim as having no merit.
