Eco Atlantic will move on to executing its plans for other exploration wells offshore South Africa, after the dismal results of its first wildcat in the country.
Gazania-1 spudded on Block 2B on October 10, 2022, and it reached target depth of 2,360metres but did not show evidence of commercial hydrocarbons. The well will now be plugged and abandoned as planned.
“The well logging is currently on-going and the JV Partners will undertake a detailed analysis of the results, which will inform our future plans”, Eco Atlantic says in a statement. “The JV Partners submitted a Production Right Application to the Petroleum Agency of South Africa (PASA) on November 15, 2022, for Block 2B, based on the existing oil discovery of AJ-1 and potential future operations. Therefore, the JV Partners have time to conduct further analysis and integration of the Gazania-1 well data to allow them to determine the next steps on the Block”.
Eco Atlantic is also involved in a two-well campaign on Block 3B/4B offshore South Africa, planned to commence drilling in 2023. Eco Atlantic through Azinam holds a 26.25% participating interest in Block 3B/4B, with strategic alliance partners, Africa Oil Corp., the operator of the block, holding a 20% participating interest, and Ricocure, which holds the remaining 53.75% participating interest.
Block 3B/4B, is located between 120-250 km offshore South Africa in the Orange Basin, directly south of the discoveries offshore Namibia announced earlier this year by Shell (Graff-1) and TOTALEnergies (Venus-1). The 3B/4B Block covers an area of 17,581 sq km and lies in water depths ranging from 300-2500 m. The block partners are currently reprocessing a large, three dimensional (3D) seismic survey that will be used to high-grade leads towards identifying drilling targets and preparing for a potential drilling campaign next year.
