OGX Maranhao has secured the contract for the services of its second onshore drilling unit. Unit BCH-05E has been provided by BCH Energy do Brasil and will operate in the Parnaiba Basin. OGX Maranhao, an entity formed by OGX S.A. (66.6%) and MPX Energia S.A. (33.3%) is the operator and holds a 70% stake in this block, while Petra Energia S.A. holds the remaining 30%.
With a capacity to drill wells of up to 3,500 meters, BCH-05E will be available as from March this year, for a period of one year. The unit will operate in tandem with drilling unit QG-1, which had its contract renewed for another year beginning April 2011.
The new unit will strengthen OGX Maranhao’s exploratory campaign in the Parnaiba Basin, state of Maranhao, considered to be a new hydrocarbon province with enormous potential for natural gas production. OGX Maranhao has already made important discoveries in this basin and estimates production capacity at approximately 15 million cubic meters per day of natural gas within the area of its seven blocks.
BCH-05E will shortly be transported to the location of the Fazenda Sao José prospect in Santo Antônio dos Lopes, where drilling of a well extension will begin as from March. This will be the fourth well drilled by OGX Maranhao in the Parnaiba Basin. In 2010, the company completed drilling of the California prospect (in the city of Capinzal do Norte) and the Fazenda Sao José prospect (Santo Antônio dos Lopes), both with natural gas discoveries, and in February this year started drilling the Bom Jesus well (in Lima Campos), which is still in progress. OGX Maranhao plans to drill 15 wells in the region by 2013.
