Offshore staff
LONDON – Afren has provided an update of its E&P programs offshore West and East Africa.
Offshore Nigeria, the jackupAdriatic IX has relocated for a schedule that includes drilling of a development well to establish early production from the recent Ebok north fault block (Ebok NFB) discovery via existing facilities.
The results should provide production and reservoir data for a full-field development solution. The partners plan to install a new 12-slot wellhead support structure and mobile offshore production unit that will be tied back to the existingEbok FSO. Oil in place at Ebok NFB could be more than 100 MMbbl.
Processing has been completed of a348-sq km (134-sq mi) ocean bottom cable 3D seismic survey acquired last year over the entire Ebok/Okwok/OML 115 area. The new data is assisting an exploration and appraisal program to test upside potential, and submission of a field development plan to the Nigerian authorities.
Most likely scenario for Okwok is a dedicated production processing platform tied back to, and sharing, the Ebok FSO, 13 km (8 mi) to the west.
At offshore license OML 115, the partners plan to spud a first exploration well using the recently contractedTransocean Monitor. The Ufon structure remains the most likely target.
On OPL 310, Afren has identified several prospects in the same Senonian, Turonian, and Albian sandstone intervals that brought discoveries along the West African Transform Margin offshore Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. Detailed technical work and well planning continues ahead of an exploration well early next year.
At theEni-operated Keta block offshore Ghana, the partners have entered the next two- year exploration phase. Acquisition has started of new 3D seismic data, with one exploration well to follow by May 2014.
In South Africa’s offshore block 2B, the near-term program calls for acquisition of 686 sq km (265 sq mi) of 3D seismic during 1Q 2013. Exploration drilling is expected in 2014.
As for Afren’s Kenya offshore blocks L17/L18, 1,207 km (750 mi) of new 2D seismic data was acquired in January. Interpretation has led to identification of four new prospects, in addition to those mapped previously in the shallow water.
They appear to represent a major new play with lower risk and greater materiality than the shallow-water play, and have increased mean prospective resources on the block from 94 MMboe to 1.1 Bboe. Acquisition is now under way of 1,000 sq km (386 sq mi) of 3D seismic, to improve understanding of the deepwater prospectivity ahead of exploration drilling.
Late last year, the company and its partner acquired more than 900 km (559 mi) of 2D seismic over deeper water areas of the Tanga block license off Tanzania. Prospectivity here is in the same play identified in the Kenya blocks to the north.
Afren estimates mean prospective resources on the block at 1.2 Bboe. It plans to shoot 500 sq km (193 sq mi) of 3D seismic after completing the current Kenya program, again prior to exploration drilling.
Finally, seismic acquired over Seychelles Areas A and B has revealed the presence of several large-scale structures. Currently, data from last year’s 3,733-km (2,319-mi) survey over these areas is being processed, with a view to building an extensive prospect seismic program.
11/13/2012
