The Island Innovator rig is on its way to South Africa, where it should begin drilling the Gazania-1 well by the end of September.
Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas reported the rig, owned by Island Drilling, mobilised today. Drilling should take 25 days and the partners then plan to test the well, before sealing and plugging. They also have approval to drill a sidetrack.
Following Gazania, the Island Innovator will head to Mauritania for decommissioning work.
The Gazania-1 well is targeting a 300 million barrel light oil resource, in Block 2B. Eco has a 50% stake in the block and is operator, while Africa Energy has 27.5%, Panoro Energy 12.5% and Crown Energy 10%.
“We are excited to get underway with our drilling campaign at Block 2B in the Orange Basin offshore South Africa,” said Eco COO Colin Kinley. “A successful outcome at the Gazania-1 well has the potential to be transformational for Eco and our JV partners.”
Africa Energy reported its second quarter results yesterday. President and CEO Garrett Soden said the Gazania well “is seven kilometers up-dip from an existing oil discovery and therefore has a high chance of success with material upside for our shareholders”.
The company said the Gazania well is targeting two prospects, with the sidetrack on a third.
Africa Energy, part of the Lundin Group, is also participating in Block 11B/12B, where two major discoveries have been made.
The partners intend to submit an application for a production right by September this year, the company said. The aim would be to install an early production system (EPS) on the Luiperd discovery. This would export gas to Mossel Bay, where there is a gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant.
Namibia
Eco also reported that it had signed joint operating agreements (JOAs) with Namibia’s Namcor for the company’s four licences. These are PEL 97, 98, 99 and 100.
“We are also pleased to have signed JOA’s with NAMCOR in relation to the PEL’s we operate offshore Namibia. With all of the recent operational success we have seen recently in Namibia, we are excited to be one of the largest offshore licence holders in the region and look forward to working with NAMCOR to generate value for the benefit of all,” Kinley said.