Offshore staff
CALGARY, Canada – Benin’s Ministry of Water and Mines has awarded Zenith Energy a three-month exclusivity period to finalize terms for a production sharing contract for offshore Block 1, containing the Sémé oil field.
Zenith submitted an offer for the block last September.
CEO Andrea Cattaneo said the concession “represents a potentially transformational development opportunity for Zenith because of its sizeable unexploited potential, indicated by its independently assessed oil and gas reserves and past production, and existing field infrastructure."
Sémé, discovered in 1967 by Union Oil, is in 30 m water depth, with onshore facilities and a tank farm for processing oil production. Block 1 covers 551 sq km with more than 355 sq km of 3D seismic data acquired between 2001 and 2014.
Located in shallow water (30 m) offshore with onshore facilities and tank farm for processing of oil production.
The field has produced 22 MMbbl to date, with the last production taking place in 1998 (2,000 bbl/d) when oil process fell below $10/bbl. Remaining recoverable reserves are estimated at 22 MMbbl to 28 MMbbl of oil and 428 Bcf, according to Kerr McGee (2005).
While the field’s historical recovery factor was 22%, there is room for improvement through applying modern completion techniques, horizontal drilling and 3D seismic, Zenith claimed.
During 2015 the Sèmè North oil field was discovered, reportedly containing a further 100 MMbbl in-place in the same H5 and H6 reservoirs. Again, modern techniques could push the recovery factor up to 30%, Zenith said.
The three wells drilled were on top of the 24 drilled to date over Block-1: 24 on the original Sèmè oilfield. However, the prevailing oil price at the time ($30/bbl) precluded further development activities.
Now there is also development and exploration potential in the emerging Syn-Rift play extending from neighboring Nigeria.
Production facilities comprise three platforms: two are on the Sèmè Field, with the last installed during 2013-2016 to develop Sèmè North. Zenith Energy has undertaken preliminary site visits to inspect the infrastructure.
01.10.2023
