Offshore drilling targets 6,000 barrels a day in Tunisia
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on La Presse de Tunisie
Ocean Oilfield has secured a contract from Tende Energy to mobilise its Ocean MVM rig on the Maâmoura permit, in the Gulf of Hammamet. The deviated well will target the Abiod reservoir, with potential production above 6,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, according to Ocean Oilfield and ATOG.
Ocean Oilfield has secured a contract from Tende Energy (Barbados) Limited to mobilise its Ocean MVM jack-up rig to drill the Abiod well on the Maâmoura oil permit, in the Gulf of Hammamet, Tunisia. The announcement was made by Ocean Oilfield on 6 November 2026.
The drilling will target the Abiod reservoir, a fractured carbonate formation in the Maâmoura field. According to technical estimates by Anglo Tunisian Oil & Gas (ATOG), the well could produce more than 6,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. This would be forecast gross production, which will depend on the drilling results.
The project plans to drill a deviated well from the existing Maâmoura E2 well to exploit this as-yet untapped reservoir. The hydrocarbons could then be transported to the Tazarka processing facility through pipelines already present in the area. This configuration would make it possible to use existing infrastructure without necessarily requiring the construction of a new production platform.
The Maâmoura permit is 51% owned by the Tunisian Company of Petroleum Activities (ETAP), Tunisia’s state-owned oil company, and 49% by Tende Energy (Barbados) Limited. The transfer of the rights and obligations corresponding to this distribution was formalised by a ministerial order dated 5 May 2026, published in the Tunisian Official Gazette on 8 May 2026.
