Congo is set to be the main cash cow for Eni in the near future. The Italian operator, currently struggling with production in Libya and Nigeria and looking forward to an LNG project in Mozambique, now has a low hanging fruit to catch in the central African nation. On August 1, 2013, Eni reported it has made an oil and gas discovery estimated at 600Million barrels of oil with 700 billion cubic feet of gas at its Nene’ Marine exploration prospect, which is located in the Marine XII Block offshore Congo.
Only two wells have so far drilled on the shallow water prospect, located in in 24metres (79feet) of water. Eni says the structure has “considerable additional upside” that it plans to evaluate with further wells.
The discovery was made through the Nene’ Marine 1 well, which has been drilled to a depth of 3,031 metres(9,945 feet). The well encountered a significant wet gas and light oil accumulation in the pre-saline clastic sequence of Lower Cretaceous age.
The Nene’ Marine 2 well, drilled a mile-and-a-half away from the discovery well, confirmed a significant hydrocarbon accumulation and the continuity of the reservoir. During production tests both the wells flowed at a commercial rate with 37-degree API gravity. Eni is the operator of Marine XII Block with a 65-percent stake. Partners include New Age (25%) and the state hydrocarbon company SNPC (10%).
