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TotalEnergies begins drilling in Namibia

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Deepsea Mira semi-submersible drilling rig has started its drilling contract with TotalEnergies in Namibia, where the French oil major made a giant oil discovery last year with its Venus-1x well. Offshore drilling company Northern Ocean owns this high-specification semi-submersible drilling rig. Deepsea Mira has safely completed transit to Namibia and commenced drilling activities under its contract with a TotalEnergies subsidiary.

Deepsea Mira semi-submersible drilling rig has started its drilling contract with TotalEnergies in Namibia, where the French oil major made a giant oil discovery last year with its Venus-1x well. Offshore drilling company Northern Ocean owns this high-specification semi-submersible drilling rig. Deepsea Mira has safely completed transit to Namibia and commenced drilling activities under its contract with a TotalEnergies subsidiary. The contract with TotalEnergies has a firm duration of 300 days, with two extension options for the French oil company. If exercised, these options would keep the rig busy throughout 2024.

Since Deepsea Mira has successfully commenced operations, the company has mitigated exposure to mobilization, reactivation, and other pre-commencement risks. Additionally, the company has amended the credit facility with Sterna Finance Ltd. to provide a new tranche in the amount of $50 million with a three-month tenor. This provides the company with sufficient time to normalize working capital from both rigs, Northern Ocean stated.

TotalEnergies has allocated almost 50% of its global exploration budget of US$300 million to Namibia this year, hoping to confirm a multibillion-barrel discovery on block 2913b within the Orange Basin. The drilling rig is owned by Northern Ocean and managed by the Norwegian drilling firm Odfjell Drilling. Odfjell Drilling AS prepared and mobilized the rig to Namibia and will provide operations management for the duration of this contract.

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TotalEnergies won the “Discovery of the Year” award for the Venus oil discovery offshore Namibia in Wood Mackenzie’s annual Exploration Survey. The Namibia Venus discovery potentially contains more than 11 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in place, with estimated recoverable resources of 3 billion boe. TotalEnergies was also named the upstream industry’s most admired explorer.

TotalEnergies is the operator with a 40% working interest, alongside QatarEnergy (30%), Impact Oil and Gas (20%), and state-owned NAMCOR (10%). The Venus discovery made in 3,000 meters of water off Namibia is truly a game-changer that has the entire industry very excited. If this project moves forward, it will establish an important new industry for Namibia. The industry continues to admire operators who can not only open new frontiers but also find large volumes of advantaged resources. TotalEnergies’ recent efforts and discoveries have been excellent examples of both trends.