Foum Draa well to target deepwater Cretaceous plays offshore Morocco

May 16, 2013
Cairn Energy says preparations are under way for the planned first well on the Foum Draa permit offshore Morocco.

Offshore staff

EDINBURGH, UK– Cairn Energy says preparations are under way for the planned first well on the Foum Draa permit offshore Morocco.

Drilling is due to start later this year, subject to necessary approvals of the semisubmersibleCajun Express. The current program includes seabed site surveys and environmental surveys.

The Foum Draa well will test Cretaceous deepwater turbidite plays and target stratigraphically older objectives than those previously penetrated along this margin. Cairn estimates resources in the target structure at 142 MMbbl, with a potential follow-up prospect of 126 MMbbl.

Also off Morocco, on theJuby Maritime permit the company and partner Genel Energy plan to drill an exploration well in late 2013/early 2014 on a Mid-Jurassic carbonate prospect. This is 1,000 m (3,281 ft) below a heavy oil discovery in the Upper Jurassic.

Cairn estimates potential reserves in the target at more than 70 MMbbl. Currently existing 3D data over Cap Juby is being reprocessed and processing is under way of a new 680-sq km (262-sq mi) 3D survey over a separate carbonate prospect in the concession. Final migrated data is expected to be ready for interpretation later this year.

Senegal exploration

Offshore Senegal, the company and partners FAR and Petrosen hope to start exploration drilling next year. The companies hold three blocks covering about 7,000 sq km (2,703 sq mi) that extend from the nearshore to deepwater, over the shelf, slope, and basin floor of the Senegalese portion of the Mauritania-Senegal-Guinea-Bissau basin.

The acreage is covered by a 2,050-sq km (791-sq mi) 3D seismic survey and numerous play types, leads, and prospects have been identified. Cairn estimates resources in the dual-objective “L” prospect at up to 250 MMbbl.

5/16/2013