Page 13 - AfrOil Week 19 2022

AfrOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES AfrOil

The study will cover a 24,000-square km section of Sierra Leone’s offshore zone (Image: Wildcat Petroleum)

Wildcat Petroleum plans desktop study

of blocks in Sierra Leone’s offshore zone

SIERRA LEONE UK-BASED Wildcat Petroleum announced on African state, and three of these turned out to
Monday (May 9) that it had negotiated an explo- be non-commercial discoveries, while another
ration deal with the Petroleum Directorate of three encountered hydrocarbon shows.
Sierra Leone (PDSL) for more than 20 offshore “This indicates that there is a working petro-
blocks covering an area of 24,000 square km. leum system in the offshore [zone],” the state-
In a statement, Wildcat Petroleum said it had ment said. “However, the failure to discover
entered into a reconnaissance permit agreement commercial quantities of oil, combined with
with PDSL. This agreement gives the company falling oil prices, caused companies to subse-
the non-exclusive right to carry out reconnais- quently relinquish their blocks.”
sance operations at the blocks over a six-month Despite these retreats, Wildcat Petroleum
period that starts on the date of the signing of the said it remained keen on Sierra Leone. The
document, it noted. country’s offshore zone appears to be linked
The company went on to say that its aim was tectonically and litho-stratigraphically to deep-
to determine which of the fields in question had water Cretaceous fans in the Guyana-Suriname
the potential to contain commercially viable oil basin on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, it
reserves. This will be accomplished via a desk- said, and it also has characteristics that are sim-
top study of existing geological and geophysical ilar to Namibia’s emerging deepwater basins,
data collected from Sierra Leone’s offshore zone, which are proving to be enormous.
it explained. “Regarding the potential of the Cretaceous
Wildcat Petroleum did not say whether it deepwater plays off Sierra Leone, we can also
intended to target any particular sites within note that African Petroleum estimated, from 3D
the area covered by the reconnaissance permit seismic data over their (now relinquished) deep-
agreement. It noted, though, that the acreage water blocks, prospective resources of [about]
included fields where two non-commercial oil 2.5bn barrels in a number of large stacked fans,”
discoveries have been made – Mercury, where the statement said.
Anadarko (US, subsequently acquired by Occi- Mandhir Singh, the chairman of Wildcat
dental Petroleum) drilled in 2010, and Jupiter, Petroleum, said that the company hoped even-
where Tullow (UK/Ireland) and Repsol (Spain) tually to parlay these insights into an upstream
drilled in 2012. investment scheme. “The extent of the blocks
It also pointed out that at least three other covered by the Sierra Leone deal indicates
companies – Mobil (US, subsequently acquired WCAT’s ambition and the size of assets it is try-
by Exxon), Amoco (US, subsequently acquired ing to secure,” he commented. “Although the
by BP) and Lukoil (Russia) – had encountered Sierra Leone endeavour is an exploration pro-
hydrocarbon shows during exploration drill- ject, the company’s top priority is to a secure a
ing offshore Sierra Leone. So far, it added, eight stake in a producing asset(s) with resources in
wells have been drilled off the coast of the West the billions of barrels.” ™

Week 19 11•May•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P13