The Stena Carron Drillship, a key player in the offshore oil exploration operations at Guyana’s Stabroek Block, will be heading to neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago for routine maintenance before returning to the ExxonMobil-operated acreage.
The vessel has been playing a central role in the discovery of billions of oil-equivalent barrels off the coast of the South American country.
The demobilisation process for its journey is taking place approximately 45.3 nautical miles (83.9 kilometres) off the coast of Guyana, in a zone that spans 0.29 square nautical miles (1 square kilometer).
As a 6th Generation harsh environment dual activity dynamically positioned (DP3) drillship, it can operate in water depths of up to 10,000ft. The drillship boasts numerous upgrades from Stena Drilling, including Managed Pressure Drilling, Wireline unit tower, and improved drilling fluid storage capabilities.
During its operations offshore Guyana to date, Stena Carron’s drilling campaigns have led to the discovery of considerable commercial resources at numerous locations, including Sailfin-1, Yarrow-1, Seabob-1, Hammerhead-1, Longtail-1, Pacora-1, Ranger-1, Turbot-1, and Fangtooth SE-1. The abundance of resources discovered, especially at the latter location, has been so significant that ExxonMobil plans to use it as the foundation for its seventh oil development offshore Guyana.
ExxonMobil has also reserved the use of four Noble drillships, which will be instrumental in its exploration and appraisal programme for the next several years. The company received approval from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to drill 35 wells in the Stabroek Block, a campaign that is expected to commence later this year.
ExxonMobil has so far managed to discover more than 11 billion oil-equivalent barrels since 2015.
