FAR has booked a Stena Drilling rig for an exploration well in The Gambia at the end of the year.
The Australian minnow said it had “locked in the timetable” for the Bambo-1 well. The Stena IceMAX will carry out work on the well, in Block A2.
The rig is expected to spud between October 1 and November 30. It should take 30 days to drill, reaching a depth of 3,266 metres in water depths of 993 metres. The well is 500 metres from the Senegal-Gambia border.
FAR said the Bambo-1 would target three prospects, with a total recoverable prospective resource estimated at 1.12 billion barrels. The company reported the chance of geological success at 7% to 36%.
The company’s managing director Cath Norman described the well as high impact and said it would be the same team that drilled the Samo-1 in 2018.
“The rig is planned to commence drilling in Q4 this year and the well will be the first well to be drilled in the Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea-Conakry (MSGBC) Basin since the collapse of the market in the wake of the oil price crash and the COVID-19 pandemic”, she said.
The company is “getting back to basics … and delivering value to our shareholders through successful exploration drilling”.
Discovering oil offshore The Gambia would be welcome to FAR shareholders and the people in the country, Norman continued. Such a discovery would allow them to “transition from burning heavy fuel oil for power generation”.
Sangomar throwback
FAR sees the Soloo prospect as an extension of the Sangomar oilfield, offshore Senegal. Woodside Energy bought FAR’s stake in Sangomar when the oil price crashed and financing dried up.
Drillers have not yet tested the Bambo and Soloo Deep prospects. As such, there is a lower chance of success, but the potential reward is higher.
FAR is the operator of the A2 and A5 permits with a 50% stake. Petronas is also working on the blocks, via PC Gambia.
Exceed Energy is overseeing the engineering and wells management team.
The Stena Drillmax Ice is currently working off Mexico, for Repsol.