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    1. Drilling & Completion

    Drillships start work on deepwater frontier wells offshore Africa

    March 27, 2014
    Ophir Energy has started drilling two deepwater frontier wells offshore West and East Africa.

    Offshore staff

    LONDON – Ophir Energy has started drilling two deepwater frontier wells offshore West and East Africa.

    The drillshipTitanium Explorer is drilling Affanga Deep-1 offshore Gabon, targeting an extension to the proven Ogooué Delta play with potential recoverable resources of 170 MMbbl. Planned TD is 4,500 m (14,764 ft) TVDSS.

    A success would de-risk various follow-on prospects that could be integrated into a hub development, according to Ophir. Drilling operations are expected to last around 35 days. On completion, the drillship will transfer to the Mbeli block off Gabon to drill the Okala presalt prospect.

    Another drillship,Deepsea Metro 1, is drilling the Taachui prospect on the northwest margin of block 1 offshore Tanzania. The BG-operated well (Ophir has a 20% interest) is targeting potential recoverable resources of 1.4 tcf (40 bcm) in Cretaceous reservoirs.

    Planned TD is around 4,050 m (13,287 ft) TVDSS. Drilling is estimated to last 55 days.

    03/27/2014