The Deep Water Discovery drill ship is scheduled to drill two firm wells and two contingent wells over the months of August and September. The exact timing is dependent on the rig's current work commitments.

The drill ship has the capacity to store any oil from production testing discovery wells, an ability Woodside did not have when they drilled the first Chinguetti discovery.

The first firm well is a step out exploration well in the Chinguetti oil field in PSC Area B. The partners said they may drill a third well to fully appraise the size and scope for production from the field.

They may also drill another exploration well in the PSC area, targeting a number of prospects that lie within 25 kilometres of the original discovery. The thinking is that any discovery in this second well would be able to be tied into the first development, increasing project economics. Further seismic acquisition and processing is needed to determine which prospect gets drilled.

The second firm well is a wildcat well in PSC Area C to the north of the Chinguetti discovery. It plans to target a Cretaceous sand channel structure identified from 3D seismic processing. Shell partially tested the flanks of this prospect in the 1970s with small quantities of oil recovered from wireline testing.

The partners also plan to acquire more seismic over the area, especially in the adjacent deepwater basin. The farm in partners Energy Africa (earning 20%) will fund the bulk of the acquisition costs.

Hardman Resources managing director, Ted Ellyard, said he was pleased the joint venture had finalised a rig contract within the time frames they had agreed upon last year.

"Hardman shareholders can look forward to considerable exploration activity in the Mauritania licences during the coming months.

"Studies on the Chinguetti Field have been encouraging and we look forward to advancing this project in a timely manner," he said.