The Ocean BlackRhino, a seventh-generation drillship recently added to Noble Corporation’s floater fleet, is progressing smoothly in its drilling campaign off the coast of Guinea-Bissau, West Africa. This comes as part of a one-well drilling contract secured in November 2023, valued at $15.4 million in backlog, excluding mobilization costs.
The drillship, which had been conducting operations off Senegal, reached the Atum-1X prospect in Guinea-Bissau by late August 2024. AGR, part of ABL Group, is providing well management consultancy for the well located in the Sinapa license, in collaboration with Apus Energia Guinea-Bissau. According to AGR, the drilling operations are advancing as scheduled.
“We are pleased to announce that the drilling operations for the highly anticipated Atum-1X deepwater well, off the coast of Guinea-Bissau, West Africa, are progressing as planned,” stated AGR.
The exploration licenses in question cover a vast area of 4,963 square kilometers, including two main prospects, Atum and Anchova, which are estimated to contain prospective resources of 467 million barrels of oil (MMbbl). AGR’s role in the project includes consultancy in well construction, drilling engineering, procurement, supply chain management, and operational supervision.
The current drilling campaign is part of a larger transaction completed in December 2023, when PetroNor transferred its 100% interest in the Sinapa (Block 2) and Esperança (Blocks 4A and 5) offshore licenses to Apus Energia. The transaction, worth up to $85 million, included past license costs of at least $25 million, with two additional contingent payments of $30 million, contingent upon government approval and continuous production.
Lynden Duthie, Managing Director of Well Management at AGR, commented on the project: “The project team’s primary focus is to deliver the well safely and efficiently, ensuring all operations meet the highest safety standards. The team is working closely together to achieve this goal and deliver the well on target.”
Following its work with Apus Energia, the Ocean BlackRhino drillship is set to begin a new contract with Beacon Offshore Energy in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, valued at $89 million over a 180-day period. The contract also includes two optional six-month extensions, underscoring the drillship’s long-term operational outlook.
Noble Corporation acknowledged the efforts of the Ocean BlackRhino team in West Africa, praising the crew’s dedication and success in advancing the campaign. “Excellent dedication by the BlackRhino crew, offshore Guinea-Bissau,” said Noble.
Originally built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in 2014, the Ocean BlackRhino is equipped for ultra-deepwater drilling with dynamic positioning and dual-activity capability, able to drill at depths of up to 12,000 feet and reach drilling depths of 40,000 feet. The rig was previously part of Diamond Offshore’s fleet before Noble Corporation merged with Diamond, acquiring a combined fleet of 41 rigs, including 28 floaters and 13 jack-ups.
