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(Sharecast News) - Clontarf Energy updated the market on the drilling of the Sasanof-1 exploration well on Wednesday, reporting that the Valaris MS-1 rig had started mobilising to the Sasanof Prospect, 200 kilometres away on the North West Shelf, offshore Western Australia.
The AIM-traded firm said secondary anchors securing the rig at the Dampier outer harbour had been pulled, and the rig was secured to the GO Spica support vessel bridle for the tow to the Sasanof-1 exploration well location.
Primary anchors would then be recovered by the Far Senator, and the tow commenced, with the transit time expected to be about four days, depending on the weather.
All required equipment had been loaded onto the rig for commencement of drilling, and preliminary preparations for drilling operations were being conducted.
Those preparations included preparing the mud mat, low pressure wellhead housing and conductors for deployment, the making up and racking of casing stands, and the installation and testing of third-party service equipment.
Drilling operations were expected to start during the week of 23 May.
"The Sasanof Prospect covers an area of up to 400 square kilometres, and is on trend and up-dip of Western Gas' liquids-rich, low-carbon dioxide Mentorc Field," the Clontarf board explained.
"Sasanof-1 will be Western Gas' first well drilled from its extensive exploration portfolio surrounding the existing Equus Gas Project that contains a discovered resource of two trillion cubic feet and 42 million barrels.
"The Equus Gas Project has a historic exploration drilling success rate of 88%, with 15 discoveries from 17 wells."
Clontarf owns 10% of the holding company for Sasanof, with the operator Western Gas owning 52.5%, Global Oil and Gas holding 25%, and Prominence Energy having a 12.5% share.
At 1453 BST, shares in Clontarf Energy were down 9.42% at 0.53p.
Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.
