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Chariot Makes Significant Gas Discovery Off Morocco

Section: Oilpatch Sahara · January 10, 2022 · No comments |

Chariot has announced the presence of “significant gas accumulations in the appraisal and exploration objectives of the Anchois-2 well with a calculated net gas pay totalling more than 100metres, compared to 55metres in the original Anchois-1 discovery well”.

Anchois-2 was drilled on the Anchois field within the Lixus licence offshore Morocco. Chariot has a 75% interest and operatorship of Lixus in partnership with the Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM) which holds a 25% interest.

The company says the well, which was spud in late December 2021, has been safely and efficiently drilled to a total measured depth of 2,512m by the Stena Don drilling rig in 381metres of water.

The AIM listed minnow says it undertook a comprehensive evaluation of the well through wireline logging, including petrophysical evaluation, subsurface formation testing including reservoir pressures and gas sampling, sidewall cores and well bore seismic profiles.

Its results are summarised as follows:

Appraisal Target

Gas Sand B has a calculated total net gas pay of more than 50m in two stacked reservoirs of similar thickness. The upper reservoir is a continuation of a reservoir drilled in the original discovery well, Anchois-1, with the lower reservoir being newly identified.

Exploration Targets

Gas Sands C, M & O were successfully encountered with multiple gas-bearing intervals across a gross interval of 250m measured distance with no water-bearing reservoirs identified, materially exceeding pre-drill expectations.

Previously discovered Gas Sand A was not targeted in the Anchois-2 well, due to the intention of evaluating it in the subsequent Anchois-1 re-entry operations, however, the Anchois-2 well encountered gas bearing sands at this level providing important additional subsurface data.
High quality reservoirs were encountered in all gas sands.
Further analysis will be undertaken to fully understand the positive implications on:
- - - Gas resources within the expanded Anchois field and the scale of the potential gas development.
De-risking of numerous additional material exploration prospects within the Lixus licence area with similar seismic attributes to the Anchois discovery now considered to be low risk.
The well will now be suspended for potential future re-entry and completion as a production well in the development of the field.
The Stena Don rig will then move to the Anchois-1 gas discovery well to perform re-entry operations with the objectives of assessing the integrity of the previously drilled well, and if successful, providing a future potential production well for the development of the field.

Aggressive TGS Kicks Off Another Seismic Survey in Mauritania

Section: Oilpatch Sahara · September 14, 2021 · No comments |

The Norwegian geophysical company, TGS, has announced commencement of a new seismic survey in the MSGBC Basin, offshore Mauritania.

It is a follow up to the North-West Africa Atlantic Margin (NWAAM) two dimensional (2D) seismic acquisition campaign.

The current survey, NWAAM 2021, will comprise 7,500 kilometres of seismic data, with a modern broadband acquisition set-up. The project is being undertaken using the vessel BGP Pioneer

“The survey is designed to illuminate the regional plays in the ultra-deep and deepwater areas with a new azimuth and to provide prospectivity insights of an oil-prone area in relation to recent key wells and the shallow water geology”, TGS says in a release.

TGS has been, perhaps the busiest multi-client seismic survey contractor on the African continent in the last three years. It was the go -to company for the Liberian licensing round, which was launched in 2^nd Quarter 2020, because it holds a range of multi-client data across the Harper Basin, the focus of the round, to support the activity.

TGS acquired a keen rival, Spectrum Geophysical, in June 2019 and in 2020 acquired the Senegal North Ultra-Deep offshore three-dimensional (3D) survey, covering an area of more than 5,100km². The stand-alone northern Senegal survey was the continuation of the Jaan 3D seismic survey, which is TGS’ 3D dataset covering the southern portion of the Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau and Guinea Conakry (MSGBC) Basin, offshore north-west Africa.

In Nigeria, between 2019 and 2021, TGS, along with its joint venture partner PetroData, carried out the country’s first regional multi-client Multibeam and Seafloor Sampling (MB&SS) Study, covering an area of approximately 80,000 square kilometres of the offshore Niger Delta and incorporating around 150 cores from the seabed, whose location is based on multibeam backscatter anomalies.

In terms of the ongoing Mauritanian survey, TGS says the project has a 60-day acquisition timeline, with fast-track data available three months after acquisition. The full dataset will be available by Q2 2022.

“Our latest seismic survey offshore Mauritania will provide explorers with the subsurface intelligence needed to assess the hydrocarbon potential of the deep and ultra-deepwater”, TGS says. “We see this project as the natural continuation of our successful NWAAM campaign, one of our flagship projects in Africa”.

Chariot Ready for Gas Appraisal Well in Morocco

Section: Oilpatch Sahara · September 9, 2021 · No comments |

Chariot Oil & Gas has signed a contract with Stena Drilling, to use its semi-submersible Stena Don drilling rig for the planned Anchois gas appraisal well within the Lixus licence, offshore Morocco.

Drilling operations are anticipated to commence in December 2021 and are expected to take up to approximately 40 days.

With the drilling, Chariot o wants to unlock the development of the discovered sands by confirming the gas resource volumes, reservoir quality and well productivity.

The probe also seeks to provide a future production well for the development of the field as well as potentially deepen the well into additional low-risk prospective sands with the aim of establishing a larger resource base for longer term growth.

Anchois field’s development plan, so far, envisages two subsea wells tied into a subsea manifold with a 40-km offshore flowline connected to an onshore gas processing facility. From there another 40-km pipeline would link to a trunkline gas system to Europe.

Kuwaitis Find New Oil and a Trickle of Gas in Egypt’s Western Desert

Section: Oilpatch Sahara · May 6, 2021 · No comments |

Kuwait Energy has flowed a modest crude oil rate and a trickle of gas after drill stem tests were performed on a new field wildcat well in Egypt’s Abu Sennan Concession in the Western Desert Basin.

The company flowed a cumulative maximum rate of 2,834Barrels of Oil Per Day (BOPD and 4.211Million standard cubic feet of gas per day (MMscf/d) on a 64/64″ choke in two reservoirs in the ASD-1Xwell.

For these two reservoirs, the Lower Bahariya and Abu Roash C, the cumulative minimum flow rate was 1,511BOPD and 1.232MMscf/d on a more constrained 32/64″ choke

Modest as these results are, they exceed Kuwait Energy’s pre-drill expectations.

The oil rates are actually higher than the Egyptian average, but the natural gas flow is incredibly small.

Still, the operator has gone ahead to submit an application for a development lease to develop the “field”, within the Abu Senanconcession.

ASD-1X, located 12km to the north-east of the producing Al JahraaField, reached Total Depth (TD) of 3,750m MD on March30, several days ahead of schedule and under-budget.

Apart from the t reservoirs tested, preliminary results suggest the well encountered a combined net pay total of at least 22m across a number of reservoir intervals, including the primary reservoir targets of the AR-C and AR-E, as well as the Lower Bahariya and KharitaFormations.

The well was drilled by the EDC-50 rig, which has now been moved to the Al Jahraa Field, also within the Abu Sennan concession, where the drilling of the AJ-8 development well commenced on May 2, 2021. This well will target the Abu Roash and Bahariyareservoirs in an undrained portion of the Al Jahraa field.

Below are details of the test results:

· The ASD-1X well tested both the Lower Bahariya and Abu Roash C reservoirs

· Preliminary short-term test results from the Lower Bahariyareservoir indicate:

o A maximum flow rate of (c. 2,187bOEPD gross; 481BOEPD net) on a 64/64″ choke

o A rate of 852BOPD and 1.600MMscf/d (c. 1,172BOEPD gross; 258BOEPD net) on a more constrained 32/64″ choke

· Preliminary short-term test results from the Abu Roash C (“ARC”) reservoir indicate:

o A maximum flow rate of 1,215BOPD and 1.371MMscf/d (c. 1,489BOEPD gross; 328BOEPD net) on a 64/64″ choke

o A rate of 661BOPd and 0.632MMscf/d (c. 787BOEPD gross; 173BOEPD net) on a more constrained 24/64″ choke

Kuwaitis Target A Second Discovery in Abu Sennan

Section: Oilpatch Sahara · February 25, 2021 · No comments |

Kuwait Energy Company is moving the ED-50 rig to the north of the Licence, to drill another well, after the moderate success of the last one, which will soon be brought to production.

The next probe is the ASD-1X exploration well, located close to the producing Al Jahraa field. The well is targeting the Abu Roash reservoirs in the Prospect D structure and, if successful, can again be quickly be brought into production.

The last well, ASH-3, a step-out development well in the ASH Field, penetrated a gross hydrocarbon column of 59metres in the primary Alam El Bueib (AEB) reservoir target, 27.5metres of which is estimated to be net pay. The well recorded a maximum flow rate of 6,379 bopd and 6.7 mmscf/d (c. 7,720 boepd gross; 1,700 boepd net), during testing, on a 64/64″ choke, from the AEB reservoir. On a reduced, 30/64″ choke, expected to be more representative of the producing flow rates, the well flowed at 3,561 bopd and 2.9 mmscf/d (c. 4,140 boepd gross; 910 boepd net).

It was spud on the 4^th January, and it reached a total depth (TD) of 4,087m MD (3,918m TVDSS) on 8^th February.

“The partners, Kuwait Energy and United Oil and Gas when brought on production over the coming days, ASH-3 will provide a significant boost to the concession-wide production rates that averaged 10,500 boepd gross (2,310 boepd net) during January 2021.

“We look forward to the spudding of the forthcoming exploration well and the remainder of our 2021 work programme,” the partners say.

Egypt Launches a Digital “Upstream Gateway”

Section: Oilpatch Sahara · February 19, 2021 · No comments |

Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum says that over 10 international oil companies operating in the country, have signed membership agreement to use the new digital data repository christened Upstream Gateway

In concert with Schlumberger, the oil service giant, the Ministry launched, earlier in the week of February 18, 2021, the “Egypt Upstream Gateway, an innovative national project for the digitalization of subsurface information”.

This digital platform will also enable global access to the country’s subsurface data, “which is kept evergreen by enhancing legacy datasets through reprocessing and new studies”, the Ministry declares. “This unique digital initiative will be used to unlock the potential of Egypt’s petroleum sector and promote the country’s exploration and production potential worldwide”, says Tarek El-Molla, the country’s minister of petroleum and mineral resources.

“The Egypt Upstream Gateway will digitally promote Egypt’s oil and gas bid rounds through seamless online access to the sector’s data, as well as endorsing our exploration potential worldwide.”, Mr. El Molla stresses.

Rajeev Sonthalia, president, Digital & Integration, Schlumberger, explains that “with the launch of this industry-first platform, the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and its affiliates—EGPC, EGAS, GANOPE—can digitally showcase national assets to investors worldwide, in addition to leveraging the latest digital technology and solutions to accelerate discovery throughout the country.”

The Egypt Upstream Gateway provides digital access to over 100 years’ worth of accumulated national onshore and offshore seismic, non-seismic, well-log, production, and additional subsurface data under a single platform. This data, which empowers de-risked decisions through the ability to explore multiple basins and evergreen data, can be accessed virtually from anywhere using the platform’s online portal. In addition, the Egypt Upstream Gateway will host Egypt’s upcoming bid round highlighting lease availability information to national and international investors worldwide.

ENI Discovers Oil and Hooks It Up Quickly in Egypt’s Western Desert

Section: Oilpatch Sahara · December 29, 2020 · No comments |

By Toyin Akinosho

ENI announced a relatively small new oil discovery in Egypt and hooked it up within a month.

The discovery, in the Meleiha Concession in Egypt’s Western Desert, was achieved through the Arcadia- 9 well, drilled on the Arcadia South structure, which is located 1.5km south of the main Arcadia field already in production.

Arcadia -9 encountered 85 feet of oil column in the Cretaceous sandstones of the Alam El Bueib 3G formation. The well was drilled close to existing production facilities and is already tied-in to production, with a stabilized rate of 5,500 barrels of oil per day.

Following the discovery, two development wells, Arcadia 10 and Arcadia 11, have been drilled back-to-back, the Italian major says in a statement. The first one encountered 25 feet of oil column and the second one 80 feet, within the Alam El Bueib 3G formation. The three wells share the same oil-water contact in the discovered reservoir. Arcadia 11 also encountered 20 feet of oil pay in the overlying Alam El Bueib 3D formation.

“The new discovery adds 10,000 barrels of oil per day to ENI’s gross production in the Western Desert of Egypt”, the company explains.

ENI’s successful implementation of its infrastructure-led exploration strategy in the Western Desert through AGIBA, a joint venture between Eni and Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), allows a quick valorization of these new resources.

ENI, through its subsidiary IEOC, holds a 38% interest in the Meleiha concession while Lukoil holds a 12% and EGPC a 50% interest.

ENI Finds New Gas in Egypt’s ‘Great Nooros Area’

Section: Oilpatch Sahara · July 1, 2020 · No comments |

Italian explorer ENI says it discovered a single 152 meters thick gas column in the first exploration well it drilled in the North El Hammad license, offshore Egypt’s Nile Delta.

Bashrush, as the prospect is called, is located in 22 metres of water depth, 11 km from the coast and 12 km North-West from the Nooros field and about 1 km west of the Baltim South West field, both already in production.

The gas molecules are stored in sandstones of Messinian age in the Abu Madi formation.

They have excellent petrophysical properties, ENI claims. “The well will be tested for production”, the company says.

“The discovery of Bashrush demonstrates the significant gas and condensate potential of the Messinian formations in this sector of the Egyptian Offshore shallow waters. The discovery of Bashrush further extends to the west the gas potential of the Abu Madi formation reservoirs discovered and produced from the so-called “Great Nooros Area”, the Italian giant explains.

ENI, together with its partners BP and TOTAL, in coordination with the Egyptian Petroleum Sector, will begin screening the development options of this new discovery, with the aim of “fast tracking” production through synergies with the area’s existing infrastructures.

In parallel with the development activities associated with this new discovery, ENI will continue to explore the “Great Nooros Area” with the drilling, this year, of another exploration well called Nidoco NW-1 DIR, located in the Abu Madi West concession.

ENI, through its affiliate IEOC, is 37.5%, equity holder and operator of the North El Hammad concession, in participation with the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS). BP holds 37.5%, and TOTAL holds 25% of the Contractor interest.

BP Confirms Mauritania, Senegal, as Hot Spots for Natural Gas

Section: Oilpatch Sahara · December 16, 2019 · No comments |

British oil supermajor BP has announced that its recent three-well drilling campaign offshore Mauritania and Senegal has confirmed “the world-class scale of the gas resource in the region”.

Three appraisal wells drilled in 2019, GTA-1, Yakaar-2 and Orca-1, targeted a total of nine hydrocarbon-bearing zones. The wells encountered gas in high quality reservoirs in all nine zones.

The wells were the first in the region to be operated by BP. In total, they encountered 160 metres of net pay, growing confidence in the significant gas resources in the region. The overall drilling campaign was delivered 40 days ahead of schedule and $30Million under budget, BP said in a release published December 16, 2019.

Most recently, in November 2019, Orca-1 well in Block C8 offshore Mauritania, successfully encountered all five of the gas sands originally targeted. The well was then further deepened to reach an additional target, which also encountered gas.

Howard Leach, BP’s head of exploration, said: “This is an exciting result as it proves that our seismic data is identifying hydrocarbon reservoirs deeper than we had previously thought. We have identified a large prospective area with considerable resource potential in Southern Mauritania. We will now conduct further appraisal drilling to help inform future development decisions.”

The Greater Tortue Ahmeyim Phase 1 development was sanctioned in December 2018. The successful results of Yakaar-2 and Orca-1 could underpin future developments, including a possible new development in Yakaar-Teranga in Senegal and in the Bir Allah/Orca area in Southern Mauritania. The timings of both potential future developments will depend on the level of appraisal required, supporting commercial development plans and integrated gas master plans in the host nations.

BP’s partners in Block C8 in Mauritania are Kosmos Energy and SMHPM (Société Mauritanienne Des Hydrocarbures et de Patrimoine Minier). BP’s partners in the Cayar Profond block (which includes Yakaar-2) in Senegal are Kosmos Energy and Petrosen. BP’s partners in the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim unit are Kosmos Energy, SMHPM and Petrosen.

Now, More Than One LNG Project for Mauritania

Section: Oilpatch Sahara · October 28, 2019 · No comments |

BP-Kosmos’ brand new Orca-1 discovery is more than a regular hydrocarbon find.

It has provided the British giant and the American junior, the confirmation of a possible second LNG project after the one already sanctioned.
The well targeted a previously untested Albian play, exceeded pre-drill expectations encountering 36 metres of net gas pay in excellent quality reservoirs, Kosmos Energy gushed in a statement. “Orca-1 extended the Cenomanian play fairway by confirming 11 metres of net gas pay in a down-structure position relative to the original Marsouin-1 discovery well, which was drilled on the crest of the anticline”.

The well location, approximately 7.5 kilometres from the crest of the anticline, proved both the structural and stratigraphic trap of the Orca prospect, which was estimated as having a mean gas initially in place (GIIP) of 13Trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas.

In total, we believe that Orca-1 and Marsouin-1 have de-risked up to 50Tcf of GIIP from the Cenomanian and Albian plays in the Bir Allah area, more than sufficient resource to support a world-scale LNG project. In addition, a deeper, untested Aptian play has also been identified within the area and surrounding structures”, Kosmos remarks.

The BP-Kosmos Energy consortium, in partnership with the state hydrocarbon companies of Senegal and Mauritania, took final investment decision for a 2.5Million tonnes per annum of LNG in December 2018. Commercial production for that project is scheduled for 2022.
This new discovery, from all reports, offers the opportunity for another LNG project.

“The Orca-1 result demonstrates highly calibrated AVO, which together with our exploration track record provides further confidence in our ability to predict the presence of high-quality gas charged Cenomanian and Albian reservoirs within the 400-kilometre long inboard Mauritania/Senegal gas basin2, Kosmos explains.