The drilling campaign for the Sangomar Field Development Phase 1 offshore Senegal will begin this week, according to Woodside, the operator of the Rufisque Offshore, Sangomar Offshore, and Sangomar Deep Offshore (RSSD) joint venture, which comprises Société des Pétroles du Sénégal (PETROSEN).
Two drilling ships, the Ocean BlackRhino and the Ocean BlackHawk, will drill the wells. On July 8, 2021, the Ocean BlackRhino landed in the Senegalese seas, while the Ocean BlackHawk will arrive in mid-2022.
The drilling ships will be supported by a fleet of three supply vessels and three helicopters, which will transfer the materials, equipment, and personnel required for the campaign. The ships will be based at the Senegal Supply Base, which is located at Mole 1 in the Dakar Port.
In a release, the acting CEO, Meg O’Neill, said: “We are pleased to announce the launch of these operations, which brings the realisation of an oil industry in Senegal an important step closer.”
“The RSSD joint venture took final investment decision in January 2020, and work to develop the world-class Sangomar resource has continued since. With the start of the 23-well drilling campaign, we remain on track to achieve targeted first oil production in 2023.”
Woodside’s participating interest in the RSSD joint venture is 82% for the Sangomar exploitation area (with PETROSEN’s participating interest 18%) and 90% for the remaining RSSD evaluation area (with PETROSEN’s participating interest 10%).
The Sangomar Field Development Phase 1 will comprise stand-alone floating production storage and offloading facility (named after Leopold Sédar Senghor) with a production capacity of approx. 100,000 barrels per day, 23 subsea wells and supporting subsea infrastructure.
