Australian explorer Swala Energy has announced that BGP International has begun the 2D seismic acquisition activity in Kenya’s Block 12B
Block 12B lies in the Neogene Nyanza Basin, an off-shoot of the East African Rift System (EARS), where large quantities of oil have been proven in recent years by Tullow in Uganda and in Kenya.
Swala Energy and partner Tullow Kenya BV, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tullow Oil, will acquire approximately 350km of 2D seismic over the coming weeks.
The programme has been designed to identify the main structural lineation in the basins and has the potential to identify structural leads for follow-up infill seismic and/or possible drilling, the company added.
The seismic data is expected to be vital in determining the forward exploration programme in the block. Although the basin has been under explored to date, with only 50km of low quality seismic data recorded in 1989, reprocessing of this data by Swala Energy has revealed a possible Tertiary basin fill of over 3,000 metres, supported by passive seismic work carried out by the partners in 2013.
The seismic line lies along the edge of the basin. The new data will be acquired using a high quality dynamite source compared with the very low impact vibrator source in 1989 and should provide a much better representation of the basin geometry and potential drilling candidates, according to the Australian explorer.
David Mestres Ridge, CEO of Swala Energy, said, “The start of Block 12B seismic program underlines the joint venture’s commitment to explore this frontier basin — an offshoot of the highly prospective East African Rift System. Our technical re-evaluation of the legacy seismic data is encouraging and we look forward to seeing the results of the seismic survey that has now commenced.”
