Maersk lands drilling work for offshore Ghana

Jan. 3 (UPI) -- Drilling work starting in February extends into the Jubilee and TEN oil fields off the coast of Ghana, some of the world's biggest, Maersk Drilling said.

Maersk said it landed a four-year contract from Tullow Ghana, which is leasing its deepwater drillship Maersk Venturer for development work at the Jubilee and TEN fields. It's the first contract for Maersk from the Ghanaian subsidiary of Tullow Oil, an African-focused explorer with headquarters in London.

TEN refers to the Tweneboa, Enyenra, Ntomme complex offshore Ghana.

"We are firmly committed to supporting Tullow Ghana's business through safe and efficient drilling operations," Lars Ostergaard, the chief commercial officer of Maersk Drilling, said in a statement.

A "serious accident" on the Maersk Interceptor drilling rig in November, contracted to tap into the Tambar oil field in the North Sea, left one person dead and another person injured. Both workers were employed by Maersk Drilling.

Past maritime border disputes between Ghana and Ivory Coast interfered with the development of the TEN oil field, operated by Tullow. A floating production platform already slated for TEN has the production capacity of about 80,000 barrels of oil per day.

At the Jubilee field, Tullow said it expected to continue with remediation work on a separate floating production and storage facility that was damaged and hampered progress in the past. The Ghanaian government in October approved of the broader field development plan, which the company said meant additional commercial reserves and an extended production profile.

Maersk said its drillship was already on the way to the job site offshore Ghana.

When asked by UPI, neither company explained whether Maersk Venturer would be used as supplementary infrastructure or serve as a replacement.

Tullow in November said it expected to produce between 85,000 and 89,000 barrels of oil per day from its portfolio, an upward revision of about 9 percent at the low end. In financials, the company lowered its spending target to around $300 million and expected free cash flow of around $400 million.

The Maersk contract from Tullow was awarded in December and announced Tuesday.