Ghanaian independent, Springfield E&P,has spud its first well on the West Cape Three Points (WCTP) Block 2 acreage, in the country’s prolific Tano Basin.
The drillship Stena Forth spud Afina-1 at 6.50pm, October 7th, 2019, according to Kevin Okyere, Springfield’s founder and CEO.
Afina-1 is the first of two exploratory wellsthat Springfield proposes to start with on the asset. The second is Oak-1.
Springfield doesn’t say what water depth Afina is located and has also not disclosed the proposed Total Depth. The block itself, WCTP2, lies between 100metre and 1,700metre water depths. Deepwater starts from the 200metreisobath.
WCTP2 was carved out of the West Cape Three Points block, operated by Kosmos Energy, following the delineation of the Jubilee unitisation area. The block was subsequently awarded to Springfield E&P for a seven year exploration period from July 2016.
WCTP2 is situated between the Jubilee field (90,000BOPD) and Sankofa (30,000BOPD) field and is immediately north of Aker Energy’s Pecan, Hickory, Almond, Paradise and Beech discoveries.
The latter extends into the WCTP2 block. The licence consists of two components, an exploration component and an appraisal/development component for the existing discoveries, Odum and Banda.
Springfield operates the block with 82%. The two partners, state hydrocarbon companies GNPC and GNPC Explorco hold 8% and 10% equity respectively. They are both carried.
Springfield has, by merely spudding, achieved history as the first home-grown, African owned E&P operator to spud a well in a new deepwater licence.
Other African owned E&P companies with licences in Ghana include Amni, Oranto, Brittania U and Sahara. They were all awarded their different blocks in the country before Springfield E&P but have not announced any concrete drilling plans.
Africa Oil+Gas Report’s earlier story indicated that Springfield’s first well would be Oak-1. Both prospects are to be tested on the basis of interpretation of an 800 sq kilometre, three dimensional (3D) seismic data, acquired by PGS and paid for by Springfield, in 2017.
