Development drilling has started on the INPEX-operated Ichthys gas-condensate field, part of the Ichthys LNG Project about 200km offshore Western Australian.
The first of about 20 horizontal production wells to be drilled was spudded 3 February, by the project’s development drilling rig, the semisubmersible ENSCO-5006, which recently completed a major upgrade in Singapore.
Managing Director Ichthys LNG Project Louis Bon said the start of the drilling campaign was another major milestone for the project.
“Today we officially mark the beginning of our development drilling program after years of intensive optimization studies and detailed planning,” Bon said. “This campaign will target the Brewster reservoir with 20 production wells.
“The wells will be drilled into reservoirs about 4000-4500m beneath the seabed.”
The Project will use directional drilling technology and the wells will be grouped around five drill centers, each designed to accommodate 4-6 wells.
The ENSCO-5006 will be joined at a later date by Transocean’s semisubmersible drilling rig Jack Bates. Both rigs will be supported from INPEX’s offshore logistics base in Broome, Western Australia.
The next Ichthys LNG Project milestone, scheduled to start in the coming weeks, will be the start of the deepwater pipelay for the project’s 889km-long gas export pipeline.
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