Posted by The drilling ship – charted by Seadrill back in April – arrived in Rio de Janeiro earlier today (November 16th), where it should undergo some minor maintenance as well as procedures with Brazilian authorities and ExxonMobil. After that, the vessel is expected to launch ExxonMobil’s new drilling campaign in Brazil, starting on Campos and Santos ultradeep waters around January 2021.
The most likely destination is either the block C-M-789 (owned in partnership with Qatar Petroleum and Petrobras), where they have 7 wells under licensing, or the other one right next to it, Titã (owned in partnership with Qatar Petroleum), with 5 wells under licensing. Either way, both assets are expected to be drilled by the end of 2021.
Other areas that might be explored afterward are north Campos and the Sergipe-Alagoas Basin, where the company has several ongoing licensing processes with Ibama.
The results of these wells – hopefully, new pre-salt discoveries – are widely anticipated by the industry, especially with the recent dry well in nearby Saturno and low oil prices.