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FAR Ltd selects location for the Samo-1 oil and gas exploration well offshore The Gambia

Published: 13:03 22 Aug 2018 AEST

The Stena DrillMAX drillship
The Stena DrillMAX drillship will be used to drill the Samo-1 exploration well

FAR Ltd (ASX:FAR) has selected a location for the Samo-1 well which will form part of its Gambian oil and gas exploration program.

The well will test the Samo prospect, which is immediately to the south and along trend from the giant SNE oil field in Senegal.

This trend has so far seen nine successful exploration and appraisal wells at a 100% success rate.

READ: FAR shares up 75% in 2018 with more potential catalysts to come

FAR managing director Cath Norman said, “We are very excited to be drilling the Samo prospect.

“Given the nine successful wells drilled on the shelf to date in Senegal and into the key reservoirs in the Samo prospect, the geological chance of success for drilling this prospect is high for a frontier exploration well.”

First well offshore for 40 years

Samo-1 will be the first well drilled offshore The Gambia for 40 years.

The well location was selected by FAR Gambia Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of FAR Ltd, after reprocessing and interpretation of 3D seismic data, detailed mapping of the prospect and detailed well engineering.

Samo-1 well will be in approximately 1,017 metres water depth and 112 kilometres offshore Gambia in the highly prospective Mauritania-Senegal-Guinea-Bissau-Conakry (MSGBC) Basin.

The A2 and A5 prospects and leads showing the Samo-1 well location.

It will be drilled using Stena DrillMax – a state of the art, dual mast, dynamically positioned, deepwater drillship with a rig crew that has extensive international and regional West African experience.

Two primary targets

The prospect has two main targets - an upper reservoir interval which contained liquid-rich gas at SNE and a lower reservoir interval which was oil-bearing at SNE.

These target reservoir intervals are assessed to have a combined prospective resource of 825 million barrels of oil.

Seismic depth section through Samo prospect showing geological interpretation.

Good quality reservoirs have been interpreted at both levels at the proposed location and the well will be drilled on the crest of the structure.

Norman said: “FAR retains a 40% working interest in the project and will be operating the well on behalf of the joint venture."

 

“If successful, Samo-1 will add significantly to the contingent resource base of FAR and has the potential to dwarf the value of FAR’s portfolio in Senegal,” she said.

PETRONAS farming in

FAR’s high rating of the prospect is shared by oil major PETRONAS, which is farming-in to the project in a deal worth up to US$53.6 million.

The world-class company is buying 40% of FAR’s 80% working interest in the Samo-1 exploration well by paying for 40% of total well costs to a cap of US$45 million.

Samo-1 well is planned to spud in early quarter four of 2018 and is expected to take about 40 days to drill on a trouble-free basis.

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