Offshore staff
LEEDERVILLE, Australia – African Petroleum (AP) has found potentially large volumes of oil while drilling offshore Liberia.
TheNarina-1 exploration well in block LB-09 was drilled to a TD of 4,850 m (15,912 ft) in a water depth of 1,143 m (3,750 ft). It encountered 32 net m (105 ft) of light oil pay in two separate intervals: 21 m (69 ft) in a Turonian submarine fan system and 11 m (36 ft) in a deeper Albian sand with secondary potential.
At the Turonian level, the well may have penetrated the flank of a large fan system covering an area of 250 sq km (96 sq mi), comparable in size to the Jubilee field offshore Ghana.
AP opted to drill Narina, rather than its original choice Jacana, following analysis of results from the previousApalis-1 well, which refined the stratigraphic calibration of the seismic data. This allowed the company to more accurately determine prospective reservoir layers, also revealing that Turonian-aged sands were more likely developed at this location.
The underlying Albian discovery comprises a four-way dip structure with moderate quality reservoir (up to 13% porosity). Here the commercial viability is less clear, although there is upside in a large Albian submarine fan prospect nearby.
AP plans to secure a rig for further exploration and appraisal drilling off Liberia this year, which could include a step-out well on Narina and an exploratory well off Gambia.
2/21/2012
