The Mauritania joint venture partnership, which includes Woodside Energy Ltd., BG Group, Hardman Resources, Fusion Mauritania, Premier Oil Plc., and ROC Oil, has agreed on details for the 2004 exploration and appraisal drilling campaign.
Drilling will begin in August 2004 and will continue until Chinguetti development drilling begins in 4Q 2004. Five exploration wells are planned in PSC areas A and B, with up to four appraisal wells on the Tiof discovery in PSC B.
The exploration program covers a wide range of prospects in respect to size and risk. The Tevet, Capitaine, and Merou prospects are located in PSC B. Tevet is a lower risk prospect with potential to be the first satellite tie-back to the Chinguetti hub. Capitaine and Merou have the potential to be similar in size to Tiof, as does Sotto, which lies in PSC Area A. The Bogue prospect lies primarily in PSC A and extends into PSC B. It is higher risk and is targetting significantly larger reserves. All five prospects have reservoir targets of Miocene age, similar to those that have been successful in Chinguetti, Tiof, and Banda. Other prospects in the PSCs have been identified and could be drilled in place of the above prospects subject to drilling results or ongoing geological studies.
The drilling program on Chinguetti will follow in 4Q 2004 and will comprise up to six oil production wells, four water injection wells, and one gas injection well as part of the phase 1 development on PSC B.
The 20-well exploration, appraisal, and development drilling campaign will employ two deepwater drilling rigs, theStena Tay and West Navigator, which will work in tandem and operate in water depths ranging from 300 m to 1,700 m.
07/06/04
