Noble Corporation has successfully obtained a contract extension with Petrobras, the Brazilian state-owned oil company, for its drilling rig operating offshore Colombia.
This agreement will keep the Noble Discoverer engaged in the South American region until August 2026. Petrobras has already tapped into over 6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas through the drilling of the Sirius-1 and Sirius-2 wells in Block GUA-OFF-0, located in the Guajira Offshore basin of the Colombian Caribbean Sea.
In a concise update on LinkedIn, Noble announced that Petrobras has opted to extend the use of the semi-submersible drilling rig for an additional 390 days. This extension shifts the contract end date from July 2025 to August 2026, although financial details have not been revealed. Additionally, Noble mentioned that Petrobras holds an unpriced option for a further extension of the Noble Discoverer into the third quarter of 2027.
Petrobras plans to drill at least two more wells in the block this year, including the Buena Sorte-1 exploratory well, indicating that the oil company may pursue further drilling activities in Colombia.
Earlier this year, a drillstem test at the Sirius-2 well, situated at a depth of 804 meters, evaluated approximately 100 meters of reservoir interval and reportedly showed “good productivity,” according to Petrobras.
The company aims to commence production from the Sirius development by the end of the decade, utilizing a subsea-to-shore solution that involves installing manifolds on the seabed and connecting production lines to the shore. Petrobras holds a 44.44% interest in the Sirius project, with Colombia’s Ecopetrol owning the remaining 55.56%.
SOURCE: Upstream Online