Offshore staff
VANCOUVER, Canada – Africa Energy has issued drillstem test results for the recent ultra-deepwater Luiperd-1X discovery on block 11B/12B offshore South Africa, operated by Total.
According to Jan Maier, the company’s vp Exploration, the well, drilled by the semisubmersible Deepsea Stavanger in 1,800 m (5,905 ft) of water, intersected 85 m (279 ft) gross sands of which 73 m (239 ft) was net good-quality pay in the main target interval, also thicker than prognosed.
The DST started after the well had reached TD of around 3,400 m (11,155 ft) on Oct. 12. Luiperd-1X well was opened to flow on Nov. 1 and following tests at different choke settings, attained a maximum constrained flowrate through a 58/64-in. choke of 33 MMcf/d of natural gas and 4,320 b/d of condensate (9,820 boe/d in total).
Surface equipment constraints prevented the choke configuration from being increased: the absolute open flow potential of the well is likely to be significantly higher than the restricted test rates.
Overall, the results demonstrate a high condensate yield and good reservoir connectivity, Maier added, supporting the partners’ decision to progress development studies and to engage the South African authorities on commercialization.
Block 11B/12B is in the Outeniqua basin, 175 km (109 mi) off the southern coast of South Africa. Luiperd is the second discovery in the Paddavissie Fairway in the southwest corner of the block.
The five originally identified submarine fan prospects across the fairway all have direct hydrocarbon indicators recorded on both 2D and 3D seismic data and intersected in the wells, which should de-risk future exploration.
12/07/2020
