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So I am 100% sure now that the Tomax Facebook and LinkedIn photo is taken as quay 501 which is where the island innovators supply ship has just docked up at this morning.
As well as the table mountain view the two buildings in the background behind Boris Johnson in his high vis best are Darmen skips (the white one with funny roof) and to the right of that it’s Domarco at 24 eastern mole road (which may be part of Afrishore)
Either way. Our supply ship is now moored up in front of the location of that Tomax photo as of 4.12am this morning.
She arrived at 4.12am in port. Current draft is 7m. If she gets loaded up this may increase. But I would hope her destination to update at some point and for her to depart back to the innovator. Fingers crossed.
https://alltrack.org/list-port-of-calls-166-zacpt-cape-town
So…..
One of our supply ships is back in dock collecting something from the quay located where our logistics provider is based and where a picture of tomax drill tools appeared yesterday.
We he LinkedIn post DOES say it was taken a few weeks ago. And this may be the case. BUT Umkhuseli has not just driven back to port so the captain can take a dump!!!! We hid ships movements are key now. If she heads out back to the rig after collecting supplies it could all be looking like they at least have found something they wanna explore a bit more.
Follow Umkhuseli!!!
The picture of the dock posted by Tomax is interesting for a few reasons..,,,
1. Table mountain is right in front of you. This suggests we facing south west. And would tie in with a picture stood quayside at quay 501 Ben Shoeman docki just did google street view from Eastern Mole Acc road and same view of table mountain in front of you.
2. Tomax cited the picture was taken by Afrishore. There office is on Eastern Mole Acc Road right next to Ben Shoeman dock and the offshore maritime service area.
Afrishore
https://www.afrishore.co.za/
Afrishore website proudly cites island drilling as a customer
I said yesterday morning that Umkhuseli had left the innovators side and was en route back to Cape Town. Well she is now there. Moored up in the Ben Shoeman dock, quay 501.
https://dlca.logcluster.org/plugins/servlet/mobile?contentId=56165082#content/view/56165082
I totally disagree with the original post. You release to the market you had payzones but have not sidetracked and you leave open some doubt. For the sake of waiting 2 weeks and drilling the side track (which they already told the mkt they would drill upon a positive result) and reporting payzones confirmed by a sidetrack….it’s much much much more meaningful and leaves no doubt.
If I was them I would just release all the news together. 1 Big Bang if I was sidetracking. So you can tell the mkt exactly what you have seen.
Not just we think we saw something so now we will make sure with a sidetrack.
Gil seems like a Big Bang type of guy.
But either way…With rig still in position. Layla back on site and Umkhuseli back en route to Cape Town. I think they are sidetracking.
You would need help with the anchors from a platform handling tug supply vessel. We Umkhuseli is one of those. Layla is not. Umkhuseli just left and I think on way back to Cape Town.
Likely means innovator staying put for a while longer. And at prob $300k per day rate it’s not just doing that for fun.
Layla giving me some worries last night as was starting to wonder why there would be 2 supply/support vessels near the innovator. I started to wonder if umkhuseli was the safety vessel and layla was doing anchor handling. Ie getting the innovator ready to move - which would not be great.
Anyway, I did some snooping on layla and she seems a normal supply ship. Draft at 5.6mis nearly 90% of max so she is carrying something!!??
This morning I tracked her movements over the last 24 hours and can see that just before 8am yesterday she appears to pull alongside the innovator and stays there for several hours before eventually pulling away and taking up a position away from the rig at about 11.20am.
Given this I would suggest that something is clearly being offloaded onto the rig. I have also just noticed it appears that Umkhuseli is on way back to cape town. No new destinated reported that I can see but she is def heading south away from the innovator whilst Layla has taken over safety duties.
We are now 5 weeks and 35 days since operations were announced to have commenced on the 4 October.
If that was a dry hole and no sidetrack was being performed we think we would know.
Does anyone have any decent knowledge of sidetracking? I know we have to analyse the logs and then cement plug at the various casings before puncturing through the liner to go off at an angle. But how long does all that take? And then how long would the sidetrack go on for? Could it be another couple of weeks?
The initial time line and that reported by Africa oil of being likely involved a final 4-5 days of removing the BOP and plugging etc. that doesn’t appear to have happened so we are now well well through the initial drill plan time estimate.
Any thoughts?
I was just jesting. It’s good to get useful and accurate info rather than just ramping.
Going to be an interesting few days I think.
From Lundin posts in october they are using titan helicopters to do their transportation to the rig. (Picture of helicopter ZT-HKZ) which is owned by titan). Titan have a base out of Oranjemund in Namibia which is literally a stones throw over the border from Alexander bay….about 8km. As such I think any activity from the rig is operated by them so I am trying to see if anyway to check their fleet movements and location this morning as I reckon that flight from Cape Town this morning has something to do with us. Alexander bay itself is literally a small nothing town with a population of 1726…you dont charter an aircraft to there to go on holiday or see the sights :0
This is great chat re valuing oil in the ground. But why have you spammed by thread with it. go start your own :0
As a side to this….Alexander bay airport is literally a hut in the middle of nowhere with practically zero daily traffic. Today just before 6.30 ZS-TNF departed Cape Town for Alexander bay. That is where anyone getting a helicopter to the innovator rig would get a connection from.
Why? If they are running 3 week shifts we know that Rosenberg flew out to Alexander bay on a fixed wing from Cape Town. He then got a helicopter to the rig at the start of October. They announced commencement of operations just after. He was on there 3 weeks as posted he was back in Cape Town the end of the week we know eco were also on board. The next shift have been on board just over 2 weeks and would need changing later this week. Why is it not possible they had only sourced contractors for the initial drill? Ie 2 shifts of 3 weeks each to cover a 25 day drill with time before and time after plus slippage.
If they now need to hire roughnecks back onto the rig that would implant they will be drilling beyond this week. That (for me) would imply they are sidetracking or making plans to.
And for those that don’t know….a roustabout is mainly manually unskilled labour but a roughneck job responsibility…..
Roughnecks do practical tasks involved in the drilling operation, under the supervision of the driller:
-Adding fresh lengths of drill-pipe as the drill bites deeper into rock.
-Pulling the whole drill out to change the drill-bit or to retrieve rock cores.
-Cleaning, de-sanding and de-silting equipment
-Keeping the drilling equipment in good order.
So if the rig was leaving and just needed some Maintenon you would hire roustabouts. Not roughnecks. This rig be drillin.
I just read the job ID in full. It’s for location South Africa. So it will be for the innovator IMO. Was posted 2 nov.
An offshore recruitment company used by island drilling and who have put crew on the island innovator.
Posted a note yesterday that they are looking to recruit roughnecks on to a 6 gen semi sub currently located in Africa for immediate start. Must have NOV equipment experience.
The island innovator is located in Africa. Tick. It’s 6 gen. Tick. It utilises NOV 4000 hp cylinder rig and has a NOV blowout preventer handling system.
Does anyone know where the rig is scheduled to go next? Cos if it’s not in Africa it’s off they would be recruiting for people into this rig for immediate start in Africa if that was not to drill something.
Timing is such that the last crew on board have been there 2 weeks now so would need a change over. A change over to drill? To drill a sidetrack for a few weeks?
Obviously just speculating. And no guarantee this recruitment is for the innovator. But the recruitment post was liked by Thomas Rosenberg who we know was on the innovator until 2 weeks ago.
I don’t follow. The chat about an rns was just based on time from potential spud. No one was guaranteeing an rns? And why is it hilarious? No news is….no news. Not sure why that is anything other than “still waiting for news”. But if that’s hilarious for you. Good for you.
Coming off plateau means you have to drill to maintain flat production. It means you have to spend money. And if that is uneconomical because you are being taxed such that your IRRs are lower than you would spending this dollars elsewhere….. then you should let all your U.K. fields decline and show these ****s how this industry works.
With our balance sheet we have optionality. We have choices. They put up tax. We cut all U.K. capex and **** off to invest our cash somewhere else. Just to Prove a point and say hey rishi “**** you” if not for any other reason