African utility firm Victoria Oil & Gas has completed drilling of the pilot borehole in Douala, Cameroon, set to open a new gas market for the firm.
Once the 678 metre single shot borehole under the Wouri Riverthe is reamed out and all pipework in place, the pipe will connect the existing Douala network with the new Bonaberi network, linking two major gas markets, Victoria said in a statement.
Eleven gas supply agreements have been signed to date with Bonaberi customers and others are under negotiation, the firm added.
The drilling was undertaken by contractors Britanica and supervised by Victoria’s fully-owned subsidiary, Gaz du Cameroun (GDC).
The operation undertaken by Britanica involved drilling the pilot borehole from the Chantier Naval area and exiting in the Magzi area of Bonaberi. The maximum depth of the borehole below the Wouri River bed was 13 metres.
On the Bonaberi side, the first phase of pipeline planned is 1.5kilometres. To date, 860 metres of 400mm pipeline and 1129 metres of spur lines have been laid.
GDC and Britanica are now working to connect the first thermal customers to the Bonaberi network, while GDC also continues to work on customer connections on the Douala city side of the river, Victoria said.
“The completion of the pilot borehole under the Wouri River is a major milestone for the company and a credit to our contractors Britanica and the GDC team,” said Kevin Foo, Victoria Oil & Gas’ chairman.
“Once drilling is completed and the pipeline hooked up we can then deliver first gas to Bonaberi customers.”
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