Chevron is expected to take around 100 days to drill a relief well at the site of a deadly blowout incident off Nigeria last month.
The Transocean jack-up GSF Baltic has now arrived at the Funiwa Deep-1a gas exploration well on Block OML-86 where the rig KS Endeavor has sunk and a fire continues to burn on the surface of the water.
In its latest statement on the 16 January blowout, which left two rig workers dead and saw 152 other personnel rescued, Chevron said it has decided to drill just one relief well in an effort to control the blaze which has diminished.
“Improved conditions, including the reduced flow of natural gas and the decreasing size and intensity of the fire have led CNL [Chevron Nigeria Ltd] to determine that deploying a single rig to drill the relief well provides the quickest and safest way to put out the fire and permanently seal the well.”
It is not known if Chevron still intends on having another Noble rig, on loan from Italy’s Eni, in the vicinity as back-up should anything untoward happen with the Transocean rig.
Chevron’s stated commitment to deploy a single rig would appear to rule out the possibility of both the Noble and Transocean rigs being used to each begin drilling a relief well at different locations near Funiwa Deep-1a.
One market expert said companies often deploy two rigs in this manner before deciding which one is making best progress to continue to the intended depth.
“When the two rigs are ready, you stand them off at two different positions and you start drilling, and you see which one is going the fastest,” the industry source said.
“And then whatever one you think is doing the best job you shut the other one down and you let the other one go down so you don’t get any communication between one and the other. And then just in case something happens to that one you can always go back to the other one. That is the way most companies do it.”
It is understood Chevron had at least been considering this option as recently as the past week.
The KS Endeavor is owned 50:50 by Nigeria’s Fode Ltd and KS Drilling Pte, a subsidiary of Singapore KS Energy which is a spin-off of Atlantic Oilfield Services.
Chevron had the KS Endeavor on charter for a firm two-year period which started in January 2011. The US oil giant also holds a one-year option over the unit.
Production from Chevron's North Apoi platform was shut in due to its proximity to the fir
