Offshore staff

LUANDA, Angola – Maersk Oil has discovered oil in the deepwater Azul-1 exploration well in block 23 in Angola’s Kwanza basin.

The company says this was the first well to penetrate presalt objectives in the Angolan deepwater. It was drilled in a water depth of 923 m (3,028 ft) and reached a final depth of 5,334 m (17,500 ft).

Maersk adds that the condition of the well prevented an assessment of flow capacity by a conventional test. Instead, the partners opted for a mini-drillstem test that enabled recovery of two good-quality oil samples.

Early interpretation of the data suggests a potential flow capacity of more than 3,000 b/d. The partners plan further exploration on the block, including what Maersk calls ‘state-of-the-art’ reprocessing of seismic data. The company expects full appraisal of the find to take several years.

Sonangol E.P. is the block concessionaire. Maersk is operator and partners are Svenska and Sonangol P & P.

01/04/2012