Africa Oil Corp. has announced that following the drilling of the successful Erut-1 (Block 13T) exploration well in January 2017, which extended the proven oil limits to the northernmost end of the South Lokichar basin, the Amosing-6 and Ngamia-10 appraisal wells in Block 10BB have now been drilled
The Amosing-6 was drilled near the basin bounding fault and encountered 35 metres of net gas and oil pay and Ngamia-10 was drilled in an untested fault compartment and encountered 65 metres of net oil pay. The data from these appraisal wells will be incorporated into the ongoing field development planning activities.
Following the completion of the Ngamia-10 well, the rig was moved to the previously drilled Etom-2 well to prepare the well for a Drill Stem Test. The rig will then drill the fourth well of this campaign, the Emekuya exploration well, which will target the north-eastern flank of the Etom Complex. This well is likely to spud in early May.
The Joint Venture partners have decided to extend the current exploration and appraisal campaign by a further three wells. The additional wells will explore further the Greater Etom complex, test an undrilled fault block adjacent to the Ekales field and drill the Ngamia-11 well which will be used for an extended water flood pilot test in conjunction with the Early Oil Pilot Scheme (EOPS).
Water injection testing on the Amosing-2A, Amosing-3, and Ngamia-5 wells has been successfully concluded, achieving good water injection rates and proving the feasibility of water injection for the development of these fields. This success has enabled the Ngamia-11 water flood pilot to be incorporated into the EOPS activities which, along with the dynamic data collected from previous tests, will be used to finalise reservoir characteristics for the Field Development Plan.
Africa Oil Corp. has a 25% working interest in Blocks 10BB and 13T with Tullow Oil plc (50% and Operator) and Maersk Olie og Gas A/S (25%) holding the remaining interests.
Field Development
In addition to the drilling and operational activities to support the Final Investment Decision for the Kenya Full Field Development by the end of 2018, engineering studies and contracting activities are underway in preparation for the start of Front End Engineering Design (FEED), which is expected in the second half of 2017. In parallel to the upstream development work, the Kenya Joint Venture and the Government of Kenya continue to progress the export pipeline commercial and finance studies and preparations are under way for the Environmental Social Impact Assessment and FEED which are also planned for the second half of 2017.
The Early Oil Pilot Scheme (EOPS) Agreement between the Kenya Joint Venture and the Government of Kenya was signed on 14 March 2017 allowing all EOPS upstream contracts to be awarded. The first stage of the EOPS will be the evacuation of the stored crude oil, which was produced during extended well testing in 2015, to Mombasa by road. This will be followed by EOPS production of 2,000 bopd in the fourth quarter of 2017. The EOPS will provide important information which will assist in full field development planning.
