Partners in the deepwater Foum Assaka licence area offshore Morocco have finalised a rig deal for the forthcoming FA 1 well, which is due to kick off during the first half of this year.

Operator Kosmos Energy has finalised a rig-sharing deal with BP to use the Maersk Discover drilling unit for the well, which is expected to take up to three months to drill. Owned by Maersk Drilling, the Maersk Discoverer - which is currently working in the Mediterranean Sea - is a sixth-generation semisubmersible rig built in 2009 and capable of drilling to a total depth of 9,200 m (30,000 ft).

As DI previously disclosed (see DI, 23 December 2013, page 8), one of the licence partners, Fastnet Oil and Gas, is in the process of farming out half of its 25% stake in the Foum Assaka licence to South Korea’s technology group SK Innovation. As part of that deal Fastnet will be fully carried by SK for its share of previous exploration on the licence – which is estimated by Kosmos to contain around 360 MMboe - and for drilling costs on the FA 1 well.

In its interim results in December last year Fastnet said it was finalising the farmout to SK Innovation for the Foum Assaka contract area, with a contribution to previous exploration costs and a two-well carry which is contingent on a first exploration well on the Eagle prospect (the FA 1 well) - and a first appraisal with a cost cap of US $100 million.

According to Kosmos, water depths in the licence range from 292-2,131 m (985-6,890 ft).

Offshore