Page 11 - AfrOil Week 28

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opportunities, to broaden the risk pro le of the Company.
CHARiot oil & gAs, july 9, 2019
WEst AfRiCA
Rystad highlights six high impact wells
A er several consecutive low-activity years with only a few positive results, Rystad Energy expects that as many as six high impact wells are yet to be completed this year around Africa. ese wells all target o shore acreages, with the majority planned in the Western African region.
“Africa appears to be emerging from a long hibernation in terms of oil and gas exploration activities,” said Rystad Energy Upstream Research analyst Taiyab zain Shari .
A steep drop in the number of exploration wells in 2015 fueled by budget cuts, failed projects, and poor market conditions has meant that exploration in the region has mostly been on pause and declining further until this year, where an uptick in investments has reversed this negative trend, shining some light on African exploration.
In Egypt, Dana Gas is currently drilling a deep-water well in the Mediterranean. e Merak well is targeting Pliocene turbidite plays and will be drilled to a planned total depth of 2,600 meters.
e greatest concentration of high impact wells in the continent can be found along the West African coast. Total plans to drill a well on Block C-9 in the Mauritanian basin. is particular well will target a large cretaceous oil and gas play.
located on the same structural ridge as the BirAllah and Tortue discoveries, BP’s orca
prospect is estimated to hold gross gas in place resources of 13 trillion cubic feet.
Trace Atlantic is currently hunting for a partner to farm out 50% to 70% of its stake and to drill a frontier deep water oater targeting the Albian age Formosa prospect.
Total plans to drill a well in Block 48, located in the ultra-deep-water lower Congo basin. e well would target a high potential new play in the Miocene and oligocene channels and lobes.
Further down along the southern African coast, Total aims to drill the deepest well
ever completed in the continent. e Venus prospect is located in a giant basin oor fan of the orange Basin and is considered to be the largest prospect ever in Namibia.
overall, there is a sense of positivity
a er years of inactivity and decline in the region. anks to lowered costs and several large prospects, there is once again hope for Africa’s exploration endeavours to grow in the upcoming years.
RystAD EnERgy, july 12, 2019
Seabed Geosolutions wins 4D work off West Africa
Seabed Geosolutions has been awarded a 4D ocean bottom node (oBN) monitor survey in West Africa for a major oil company. e project, for which the data is expected to be acquired over a two-month period during the third quarter of 2019, will cover 151 square km in water depths up to 600 metres. e ocean bottom nodes will be deployed by remotely operated vehicles.
Stephan Midenet, CEo of Seabed Geosolutions commented, “We are excited to secure another survey for this repeat customer, creating a better understanding of the development of their reservoir. It will
secure backlog continuity for our CASE Abyss crew and the Hugin Explorer vessel.”
sEAbED gEosolutions, july 15, 2019
Total uses cementless completion in Congo
Total E&P Congo successfully deploys the world’s rst cementless completion using Welltec Annular Isolation (WAI) - metal expandable annular sealing technology
Welltec is pleased to announce the rst deployment of a truly cementless completion in Congo Brazzaville during the second quarter of 2019. Building on the experience gained through the continuous deployment of the Welltec Annular Barrier (WAB) in
the Moho North Albian eld which was awarded the rst quarter of 2017, Total E & P Congo has pushed the boundaries of Metal Expandable Annular Sealing technology even further by deploying the world’s rst cementless completion using the Welltec Annular Isolation (WAITM) in open hole.
e WAI uses multiple metal expandable packers to provide long length open hole zonal isolation to replace the functions of traditional cement, leading to signi cant gains in e ciency in the overall well construction process. It signi cantly reduces the free annulus space between the liner/casing
and the open hole which can be bene cial
in highly layered reservoirs of varying permeability where selective production, stimulation or water shut o is required. In addition to the e ciency gains, the simpli ed well completions operations enabled by the WAI eliminated multiple operational risks associated with the cementing process in depleted and over-pressured reservoirs.
“Total E & P Congo have utilized innovative technologies and methods to continually improve the drilling curve on
the Moho North Albian eld development project” says Ronan BoUGET, the Drilling and Completions Manager of Total E & P Congo. “We were early adopters of Welltec’s WAB technology which has assisted in ensuring zonal isolation and annular sealing (liner to formation) during the development of our major oil project in the Republic of Congo. e WAI was deployed as part of
the global e ciency drive to reduce drilling expenditure whilst maintaining the bene cial productivity index in this highly heterogenous carbonate eld. our Albian Asset team led
by Manfred Bledou and the completion department led by Guillaume Viger worked with Welltec to develop the technology.
e simplicity of the WAITM enabled us to successfully deploy the technology the rst
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