Predator Oil & Gas Holdings (LSE:PRD), the Jersey-based operator with production and exploration interests in Trinidad and Morocco, has contracted Rig 205 from Star Valley Drilling (Trinidad) for its Snowcap-3 well.
Drilling and testing at Snowcap-3 will start once the company's MOU-6 well in Morocco is completed, allowing its management team to oversee both operations sequentially rather than in parallel.
The primary target is the Herrera #8 Sand, where updated 3D seismic interpretation combined with fluid level and pressure data from Snowcap-2ST1, and an adjusted bottom hole location at Snowcap-1, points to an extrapolated oil column of 600 feet across the three wells.
Predator's pre-drill forecast is that Snowcap-3 could confirm oil roughly 170 feet higher than that encountered in the Herrera #8 Sand at the Rochard-1 well. The well will also test the Herrera #1 Sand as a secondary objective, approximately 200 feet above the oil-water contact seen at Rochard-1.
Chief executive Paul Griffiths said rig contracts, environmental approvals and civil engineering work are all progressing across both drilling jurisdictions, with well services contractors selected and inventory being assembled.
Griffiths added that the company is exploring follow-on projects, including converting surplus wellhead gas in Cory Moruga into onsite power for hydrogen fuel cells and data centres, and early-stage technical discussions with a Romanian biogenic gas specialist to help evaluate semi-conventional gas potential in Morocco.
"MOU-6 is forecast to provide a suite of wireline logs and pressure points that may contribute to understanding the additional semi-conventional gas potential," he said.
News Intelligence what this means for the company
Predator Oil & Gas has contracted Rig 205 to drill Snowcap-3 in Trinidad, targeting a 600-foot oil column in the Herrera #8 Sand based on updated seismic and pressure data from nearby wells. Drilling will begin after completion of the MOU-6 well in Morocco, allowing sequential rather than parallel operations. This represents execution on the company's two-jurisdiction drilling programme: storage tanks were deployed to the Snowcap-3 site in June 2026, and the Morocco rig contract amendment was completed in late July 2026, so the Trinidad rig contract now closes the operational sequence.
The rig contract secures a critical input for the next exploration well, but does not materially alter the investment case absent production or reserve outcomes. The company remains dependent on successful drilling results at both Snowcap-3 and MOU-6 to validate its resource estimates and generate cash flow; the contract itself is a prerequisite, not a value driver.
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