The Espadon-1A well was plugged and abandoned on 15 September 2005 following analysis of wireline logs which indicated that no significant hydrocarbons were encountered by the well. The ‘Stena Tay’ drilling rig then moved to the Tevét-2 well, which spudded on 16 September. This well is presently at 1,510 metres and 13 3/8” casing is being set.
The Tevét-2 well is located 2.5 kilometres to the south of the discovery well Tevét-1, and lies in a water depth of 466 metres. The well is a combined appraisal and exploration well; it is designed to appraise the Tevét miocene oil discovery and to explore a deeper cretaceous exploration prospect. The planned total depth of the well is approximately 3,965 metres.
Chinguetti Development Wells
The Chinguetti oil development in Mauritania is now 88% complete. First oil is estimated for February 2006.
The project continues to encounter cost pressures, and known project costs to start-up now total US$705 million. An additional US$45 million is currently envisaged for contingencies. With all upper completions now installed, the forward project risk lies primarily in the installation phase, where some incremental costs are already being incurred in respect of the subsea production flowlines.
The ‘West Navigator’ drill ship is currently completing the final well preparation and clean-up work; it is expected to complete these activities in approximately 2 weeks.
