Equator Exploration - W. African Oil / Gas Giant in the Making (moderated)

These 2 articles are stating where the Belford Dolphin is actually and will be in the GoG in the first half of 2007, could be good news for EEL too.

Belford Dolphin's stay in Indian Offshore extended by 100 days

Dec. 11: ONGC has gotten a lease of life for its deepwater drilling operations in the offshore territories after Dolphin Drilling Services Ltd agreed to a 100-day grace period for Belford Dolphin's continued activities in the Krishna-Godavari Basin. The extension is in lieu of breakdown periods and other slippages in scheduled operations by the dynamic positioning drill ship, which has been engaged in drilling activities in the Eastern and Western Offshore since June, 2003. Readers will note that the 3-year primary contract for the Belford Dolphin expired at the end of November, 2006, but the extension will now guarantee the drill ship's services till February, 2007. The rig is currently situated at the Krishna-Godavari Basin's highly prolific KG-DWN-98/2 Block, where it is working in tandem with another one of ONGC's premier ultra-deep water drill rigs, the Discoverer Seven Seas. The Belford Dolphin has already been hired for operations in the Gulf of Mexico. (Click on Details for more information) By Arvind Jayaram

Kosmos granted another offshore Ghana block
(12/13/2006 - OGI: Kosmos Energy said today it has added a second block offshore Ghana to its West African portfolio and has secured partners on both blocks. Kosmos and its partners have a rig under contract and plan to drill an exploratory well in 2007.
Kosmos' Ghanaian affiliate, Kosmos Energy Ghana, has signed a petroleum agreement covering the Deepwater Tano Block offshore Ghana in the Gulf of Guinea's Tano Basin. Kosmos and its partners will reprocess about 1,100 sq km of 3D seismic data and evaluate other technical information as part of the initial phase of the six-and-a-half year exploration agreement.
Kosmos and its partners will utilize the drillship Belford Dolphin, under long-term contract to Anadarko, to drill a well on the West Cape Three Points Block, also in the Tano Basin. The partners expect to spud the well during the second quarter of 2007. The block's seven-year exploration agreement calls for an exploratory well after a 3D seismic survey, which was acquired in 2005.

"We have expanded our asset base in West Africa by acquiring an interest in a second block offshore Ghana, which reaffirms our confidence in the upside potential of the Tano Basin," said James C. Musselman, Kosmos chairman and CEO.
Kosmos farmed out half of its initial 36% interest in the Deepwater Tano Block to Anadarko, which now holds an 18% interest. Other partners in the block include Tullow Oil, 49.95% interest and operator, and Sabre Oil and Gas, 4.05% interest. With a 10% participating interest in the project, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) will be carried through the exploration and development phases.
Kosmos also farmed out portions of its 86.5% interest in Ghana's West Cape Three Points Block to Anadarko and Tullow. Kosmos remains operator and now holds a 30.875% interest in the block. Anadarko has a 30.875% interest, Tullow has a 22.896% interest, and Sabre a 1.854% interest in the block. The E.O. Group, a Ghanaian oil and gas company, holds a 3.5% interest in the block. With a 10% participating interest in the project, GNPC will be carried through the exploration and development phases.
The West Cape Three Points Block comprises 1,761 sq km in water depths ranging from 50 to 1,800 meters. It is about 12 km from the Ghanaian coastline and 95 km southwest of the port city of Takoradi.
The Deepwater Tano Block is located west of and adjacent to the West Cape Three Points Block. It comprises 1,106 sq km in water depths ranging from 200 meters to 2,060 meters.
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Tamtam