MELBOURNE: Karoon Energy Ltd has executed binding agreements with Stena Drilling Ltd and Tullow Oil Limited to contract the “Stena Forth” Dynamically Positioned Drillship.

The “Stena Forth” has been contracted to drill one well, being the Marina-1 exploration well, in Karoon’s 40% owned and operated Block Z-38 in the Tumbes Basin in Peru with drilling scheduled to commence early in the 1^st quarter 2020.

The Marina-1 well sits in water depth of approximately 350 metres and is targeting a gross prospective resource of 256 million barrels (102 million barrels net to Karoon). In the case of success in Marina-1,there is potential for a de-risking of a list of additional prospects in the block totaling over a billion barrels of prospective resource on a gross basis.

The drillship assignment agreement provides Karoon with a single well slot from the existing rig contract between Tullow and Stena. Karoon has the objective and commitment to undertake safe and secure operations, which protect employees, local communities, the environment and material assets.

Karoon has been operating social and environmental programs in Peru for the past 10 years which includes a commitment to engaging with local communities affected by our operations.

Managing Director, Mr Robert Hosking commented: “The contracting of the “Stena Forth” for the exploration of the Marina Prospect is an exciting opportunity for Karoon. Karoon has been working for some time to assess the prospectivity of the block, attract a farmout partner and prepare for drilling. The drilling of Marina-1 is a critical milestone for assessing the prospectivity of the deeper waters off northern Peru, and, on success, could de-risk several further exploration targets within Block Z-38, and Karoon’s 100% owned Area 73 Technical Evaluation Area, potentially providing important future production for Peru.

The “Stena Forth” Drillship is a recently delivered harsh water drillship with capabilities to drill in far deeper water depths and much harsher sea states than those found in Northern Peru, Karoon is happy to have secured the use of such a high quality vessel for this well. The company takes its responsibility to the local people and environment very seriously and has very experienced operational people who are committed to the highest levels of operational safety drilling the Marina-1 well.”