Sonoro: Drilling rig for Budong Budong PSC ready for transportation

By Romel S. Gurky

Calgary-based junior oil and gas firm Sonoro Energy Ltd. reported Wednesday that drilling rig and all associated services and equipment for its LG-1 Up-dip well located in Budong Budong PSC, onshore Indonesia?s West Sulawesi Province, have been scheduled to be transported by sea during the week of July 24.

The company said in a statement that the drilling rig contracted from PT Pontil, a subsidiary of Major Drilling Group International, has passed the latest stage of certifications, including completion of function and load tests, with final structural certification to be carried out in the next few days. Logistics of moving the drilling rig, along with associated equipment and services, have been finalized with an Indonesian transportation company. Transportation of the rig and equipment from Balikpapan to the province of West Sulawesi, across the Makassar Strait, is expected to take about two days.

"We are extremely pleased with the responsiveness and the performance of our local Indonesian service providers. They continue to meet our schedule, and have remained prepared for mobilization," said Sonoro Chief Executive Officer and Director Richard Wadsworth in the statement.

Sonoro said it has also organized the port-to-port transportation of all other services and equipment from Java to West Sulawesi, which will also begin in the week of July 24.

All other project deliverables remain on schedule, and Sonoro expects spudding of the LG-1 Up-dip well to begin in early August 2017, the company said. "With the final elements of the services being organized, and rig certification almost complete, we're excited to be entering into the next phase of mobilizing to West Sulawesi, in order to start drilling in early August," said Wadsworth.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak