Italian explorer ENI has concluded the drilling process of the Raia-1 well, located in Block A5-A in the Angoche basin, off Nampula province in the north of Mozambique.
Area A5-A is located off the Angoche coast at a water depth ranging from 300 to 1800 metres. With an area of 4,612 square kilometres, it is approximately 50 kilometres from Angoche and 220 from Nacala.
Nazário Bangalane, Chairman of National Petroleum Institute (INP), Mozambique’s hydrocarbon regulatory agency, says that West Capella, the Aquadrill owned rig which drilled the well, has already left the works site.
“At this moment, it is premature to advance the result of this operation, because we are still in the evaluation phase,” said Mr. Bangalane. “The well, christened with the name Raia-1, was the first to be drilled under the work programme agreed with the Government for the award of the Exploration and Production Concession Contract (EPCC), initialed in December 2018 and effective from January 2019,” he explained. “This was the first exploration well done in this part of the Mozambique basin, and it has the particularity of allowing the collection of geological information and assessment of the petroleum potential of the Angoche block, ” Bangalane noted.
ENI Mozambico S.p.A operates Area A5-A, with a 49.5% participating interest, Partners include Qatar Energy Mozambíque Limitada, with 25.5%; Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos, E.P., with 15%; and Sasol Petroleum Mozambique Exploration, Lda, with 10%.
