Anadarko has made what appears to have the makings of a major hydrocarbons discovery off Mozambique, East Africa, where there has so far been little offshore exploration, let alone success.
But possibly Mozambique’s luck has changed as Anadarko’s Windjammer wildcat exploration well in the frontier Rovuma Basin has encountered more than 152m (489ft) net of natural gas pay.
Not only is this the first deepwater discovery ever made off this country, it is one of very few offshore finds ever made in that sector, let alone anything that could prove up to be commercial. The US independent has reported that Windjammer reached an intermediate casing point and encountered the gas pay in high-quality reservoir sands with a gross column of more than 366m (1,200ft).
The company said that, to date, the well has tested one of the seven identified play types in its operated acreage offshore Mozambique.
“The intermediate results of the Windjammer well are positive for the partnership and the people of Mozambique,” said Bob Daniels, Anadarko senior VP for worldwide exploration.
“This is true rank wildcat exploration, and to have our first deepwater exploration well result in a discovery with more than 480 net feet of pay, thus far, is a strong indication of the potential of this basin.
“The Windjammer discovery de-risks a substantial portion of approximately 50 leads and prospects that we’ve identified across our 2.6million-acre position in the basin.”
By February 18, the drillship, Belford Dolphin, had drilled the Windjammer well to a depth of some 4,267m (14,000ft) in about 1,463m water depth, about 48km east of the Mozambique coastline.
The company anticipates pushing Windjammer another 1,250m deeper to gain additional geological information prior to reaching total depth.
After testing the deeper objectives in the well, Anadarko plans to move the Belford Dolphin to its Collier prospect less than 80km south-southeast of Windjammer.
The company, which hopes to repeat the spectacular successes of Ghana, West Africa, also anticipates drilling two to four additional exploration wells in the Rovuma Basin this year, with initial well results from Windjammer and Collier determining which prospects are drilled next.
Anadarko is the operator of the onshore Rovuma block and the Windjammer-1 exploration well with 43%. Partners are Mitsui (23.5%); BPRL Ventures (11.75%); Videocon Mozambique (11.75%), and Cove Energy (10%).