Trident Energy set to resume drilling off Equatorial Guinea

British oil and gas company Trident Energy has welcomed Noble Corporation’s Noble Venturer drillship for a new drilling campaign offshore Equatorial Guinea, which is expected to begin shortly.

Trident Equatorial is the operator of Block G in the complex Ceiba and Okume fields offshore Equatorial Guinea.

The drilling campaign, which is expected to resume shortly with the drillship Noble Venturer, will include two infill wells located at water depths of 250 m and 740 m, before moving to Block S, operated by Kosmos, for an exploration well.

In Block S, Noble Venturer will drill the Akeng Deep ILX well, designed to test a zone in the Albian, and targeting an estimated average gross resource of approximately 180 million barrels of oil in close proximity to existing infrastructure in Block G.

The contract was awarded to Noble Corporation for its Noble Venturer drillship on behalf of Trident Equatorial (operator, 40.375%) and joint venture partners, Panoro (14.25%), Kosmos Energy (40.375%) and GEPetrol (5.0%) in April 2024.

At the time, Noble Corporation said the drilling campaign was expected to last 150 days.

Before awarding the contract for the Noble Venturer drillship, Tident Energy, on behalf of the partners, canceled the previously agreed contract for Island Drilling’s Island Innovator semi-submersible rig leased for the work, citing safety concerns.

“The arrival of the drillship is a significant milestone that demonstrates our ability to restart the drilling program very quickly. It confirms our commitment to unlocking the potential of these fields and driving further growth in Equatorial Guinea, in a safe, efficient and responsible manner. This will be a busy and exciting time for the company and we look forward to implementing it,” said François Raux, Chief Operating Officer of Trident Energy.