Transocean and ExxonMobil Begin Drilling at Jansz-Io Offshore Australia

– By ExxonMobil Connection

The ExxonMobil Drilling team this month commenced operations on the Jansz-lo driling program for the Gorgon LNG Project off Western Australia.

ExxonMobil is the Jansz-Io Work Operator and is responsible for drilling and completing the first phase of the Jansz-lo drilling program, which consists of 10 wells.

Drilling at Jansz-Io is expected to take around two years and will use ExxonMobil technology.  This technology relates to the design of the wells, and, in particular, the application of specialised techniques to allow enhanced production.  The 10 Jansz-Io wells will be drilled to a total measured depth of between 3500 and 4500 meters in water depths of 1350 meters.

ExxonMobil has signed a contract with Transocean to secure the Deepwater Frontier drillship, which underwent extensive upgrades prior to commencement of the drilling program.

Transocean operates globally with a fleet of 135 modern offshore drilling rights including drillships, semisubmersible rigs and jackup rigs.  The Deepwater Frontier is one of 36 dynamically positioned drillships and semisubmersibles operated by Transocean.

The Deepwater Frontier is 221 meters long and designed for deepwater drilling in a range of offshore environments.  It is a deepwater, dynamically positioned drillship capable of drilling to around 9,100 meters in water depths up to around 3,000 meters.

The Deepwater Frontier was inspected and upgraded prior to commencing work in Australia to ensure continued operational integrity and regulatory compliance.  A complete refurbishment and full recertification of the blow-out preventers (BOP) to Original Equipment Manufacturer standards was undertaken while BOP control systems were also upgraded for enhanced operational performance.  Improvements were also made in areas such as fire protection and power supply systems.

ExxonMobil’s knowledge and global drilling experience offer the skill and technical capability needed to undertake the Jansz-lo development drilling safely and responsibly.

The Gorgon Project is operated by an Australian subsidiary of Chevron and is a joint venture of the Australian subsidiaries of Chevron (about 47 percent), ExxonMobil (25 percent), Shell (25 percent), Osaka Gas (1.25 percent), Tokyo Gas (1 percent) and Chubu Electric Power (0.417 percent).

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