Tullow Ghana awarded Denmark's Maersk Drilling a four-year contract for the deep-water drillship Maersk Venturer, the company announced on Wednesday.
Maersk said that the contract is expected to commence in February 2018 and covers development drilling on the Jubilee and TEN fields offshore Ghana.
Maersk Venturer is currently in transit for the job offshore Ghana and further strengthens Maersk Drilling's presence in the region.
"It is our first contract with Tullow Ghana and it is a testament to our successful operational track record in Ghana. We are firmly committed to supporting Tullow Ghana's business through safe and efficient drilling operations," Lars Ostergaard, chief commercial officer of Maersk Drilling said.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Ghana is a small oil and natural gas producer in West Africa. Oil and natural gas production are both expected to increase within the next five years with the start of new offshore projects.
Ghana's energy sector has expanded considerably after the discovery of the Jubilee oil field in 2007, which now produces light sweet crude oil. The field came online in 2010, and production in Ghana has since increased from almost 9,000 barrels per day (b/d) in 2010 to almost 107,000 b/d in 2015.
Tullow Oil, the operator of the Jubilee field, is also developing the offshore Tweneboa, Enyenra, and Ntomme (TEN) project.
The TEN field came online in August 2016 and is expected to reach a peak output of 80,000 b/d of crude oil and 50 million cubic feet per day of natural gas.
By Murat Temizer
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr
