Cairn Energy (LON:CNE) expects to start drilling its Foum Draa licence offshore Morocco in the second half of this year after securing a drilling rig.
Cairn has agreed a long-term contract with Transocean for the “Cajun Express”, on an initial one-year contract, for its planned multi-well frontier exploration programme in Senegal and Morocco.
Offshore Morocco will be a drilling hot spot in 2013, with, in addition to Cairn, Genel Energy (LON:GENL) expected to begin exploration on its three blocks later this year, one of which is jointly owned with Cairn.
Tangiers Petroleum (LON:TPET) and its partner GALP Energia are also expected to start drilling on the Tarfaya licence, almost next door to Cairn and Genel’s blocks.
Cairn said the Cajun Express, is a deep-water, fifth Generation, dynamically positioned, semi-submersible drilling rig with shallow mooring capabilities and a 15,000 psi bop stack.