BP has chartered Diamond Offshore's semi-submersible Ocean Victory for a two-year contract off Trinidad, where the UK supermajor has high hopes for offshore finds, Upstream online has reported. The 1997-built 15K-model semisub will be on contract from April 2015 to April 2017 at a dayrate of US$380,000, with an option for a one-year extension.Most recently the rig was working for Stone Energy in the US Gulf of Mexico where it drilled the Amythest project and found twin commercial gas discoveries, announced in February.
BP plans to spend about US$2 billion in T&T, Upstream online said, split evenly between capital expenditures and its operating budget."BP Trinidad and Tobago can confirm that a contract has been signed with Diamond to bring the Ocean Victory rig to Trinidad in 2Q 2015," a spokesman was quoted as saying for BP.
"This demonstrates our continued confidence in the Columbus Basin which continues to improve based on preliminary results from the recently completed OBC Seismic Survey. BP Trinidad and Tobago is cautiously moving forward with the proposed Juniper natural gas development off T&T, which still awaits a final investment decision."
The cash will support a two-rig drilling programme that will see additional wells at the existing Savonette, Kapok, Amherstia and Immortelle facilities. BP plans to tap reserves of about one trillion cubic feet of natural gas through an unmanned platform and could have peak production as high at 550 million cubic feet of gas per day, according to government estimates.The UK supermajor and Australia's BHP Billiton are also currently undertaking a massive 17,000-square kilometre 3D seismic shoot on their deep-water acreage off Trinidad.