Chariot Oil & Gas Ltd. has secured the Ocean Rig Poseidon, a sixth generation deepwater drillship to drill one firm and one optional well, the company said on June 4.

Chariot, the operator of the Central Blocks license offshore Namibia (Chariot 65%, AziNam 20%, NAMCOR 10% and Ignitus 5%) currently anticipates that the drillship will arrive on location in fourth-quarter 2018 and that the drilling of Prospect S will commence shortly thereafter.

Prospect S, independently estimated as a gross mean prospective resource of 459 million barrels (MMbbl) and a probability of geologic success of 29% by Netherland Sewell Associated Inc., is one of five dip-closed structural traps, totaling 1,758 MMbbl gross mean prospective resources, that have been identified in the Upper Cretaceous turbidite clastic play fairway. A further two higher risk-reward stratigraphic traps, totaling 885 MMbbl gross mean prospective resources, could be de-risked through the calibration of the 6,100 sq km (2,355 sq miles) of proprietary 3-D seismic data on the Central Blocks with the result of the Prospect S well.

“We are pleased to have secured the high performance Ocean Rig Poseidon drillship for the Prospect S well in Namibia. Operational plans are now well advanced for the first deepwater drilling in our Central Blocks license in Q4 2018,” Larry Bottomley, Chariot’s CEO, said.

“Our farm-out discussions are ongoing, strengthened by this well having already been fully funded, and we look forward to introducing new partners to share the costs and also the significant rewards of a discovery on Prospect S, and to accelerate the optional drilling on the transformational follow on potential.”