TotalEnergies begins drilling PNG’s first deepwater well with Noble Viking
TotalEnergies and PETRONAS began drilling the Mailu-1 exploration well, Papua New Guinea’s first deepwater well, in Block PL 576 in the Gulf of Papua on 23 June 2026.
The well is being drilled by Noble Corp’s Noble Viking, a seventh-generation drillship equipped with managed pressure drilling technology, capable of drilling to 40,000 ft and operating in water depths of up to 12,000 ft. Mailu-1 itself targets a water depth of around 2,100 m. TotalEnergies operates the block with a 50% interest, with PETRONAS holding the remaining 50% after farming into the block in 2024.
The commencement of drilling was marked aboard the rig, with Papua New Guinea’s Minister for Petroleum, Jimmy Maladina, representing the national government. Mailu-1 is a frontier wildcat targeting a large liquids prospect in the underexplored Torres Basin, southeast of Port Moresby.
