HIGHLIGHTS
Safety inspection at the
High winds and seas have required a re-scheduling of up-anchor, mobilisation and anchoring at the Jade well location to meet strict safety protocols
The NH9 rig is still safely anchored at the CNOOC well location pending suitable operable weather conditions
The long range forecast looks suitable
Empyrean is the operator of Block 29/11 in
Following handover of the rig, safety inspections have been carried out and the NH9 rig is now cleared to move to the Jade well location pending suitable safe sea conditions. The NH9 rig has been used to drill a well for CNOOC immediately preceding mobilisation to Jade. The NH9 rig is still on location at the CNOOC well.
COSL will provide a new anticipated spud date once sea conditions improve and operations can re-commence. Safety protocols require sea conditions to be a 6 or less on the Beaufort Scale for towing and anchoring operations expected to take 4 days in total.
As previously advised, CNOOC EnerTech Drilling and Production Co ('CNOOC EnerTech') are providing comprehensive pre-drilling, drilling and testing services to Empyrean for the Jade well. CNOOC EnerTech has a wealth of global experience, but more importantly has vast local hands-on experience managing the drilling of wells within the
Empyrean and the CNOOC EnerTech team have taken every precaution to plan for a safe drilling campaign at Jade. The COSL owned NH9 rig and its drilling team are 'drill fit' and the NH9 rig will be mobilised straight to the Jade well location from its current position without the need to go back to port.
From the spud date, the Jade well is anticipated to take approximately 26 days to drill to Total Depth on a trouble free basis. There are no overly challenging drilling zones anticipated with the Jade well design and program. If the Jade well intercepts a hydrocarbon zone, as anticipated, then testing is planned to take approximately a further 2 weeks.
We will provide a further update on progress as weather conditions allow rig operations to re-commence.
The Jade Prospect
The 2021 drilling campaign is targeting a world class conventional oil target in the Jade Prospect, to which
The Jade Prospect has a GCA audited mean in place potential of 225 MMbbl and a P10 in place upside of 395 MMbbl. Four recent nearby discoveries by CNOOC immediately to the West of the Jade Prospect are filled to their P10 potential or better. All four CNOOC discoveries have gas clouds showing in the overburden on seismic.
Empyrean's excellent quality 3D seismic indicates that there is a classic 'fill to spill' geological setup in the basin, and a robust regional seal, that provides the Jade and Topaz Prospects with a very real possibility of being filled in a similar fashion to nearby discoveries. The Jade and Topaz prospects both have gas clouds, similar to nearby discoveries, in the overburden on 3D seismic. Dry wells nearby do not have gas clouds. The Jade Prospect is the first of the three identified prospects within Block 29/11, which also contains the Topaz and Pearl prospects. The combined audited mean in place potential of all three prospects is 884 MMbbl and a P10 in place upside of 1,588 MMbbl. The post stack seismic inversion study showed Jade and Topaz both have the potential for excellent carbonate buildup reservoir quality with excellent porosity and permeability. Any oil discovered is expected to be light oil in the 38-41 API range, similar to nearby discoveries. These attributes combined with the potential for exceptional natural reservoir drive supports the potential for excellent recovery rates.
The information contained in this announcement has been reviewed by Empyrean's Executive Technical director,
Empyrean CEO,
Contact:
Tel: +61 6146 5325
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