Ophir Energy has announced the discovery of gas in two offshore wells in Tanzania’s Block 1
Ophir Energy holds 20 per cent of Blocks 1, 3 and 4 and BG Group is the operator with 60 per cent stake.
According to the company, the Taachui-1 well was drilled by the Deepsea Metro I drillship close to the western boundary of Block 1. The well was sidetracked for operational reasons to complete as the Taachui-1 ST1 well and was drilled to a total depth of 4,215 metres.
The well encountered gas in a single gross column of 289 metres within the targeted Cretaceous reservoir interval and the net pay totalled 155 metres.
Ophir Energy said that the observed reservoir properties are in-line with those encountered at Mzia, the other Cretaceous-aged discovery on Block 1 and the estimates for the mean recoverable resource from the discovery are 28.3bn cubic metres. The size of the gas column is such that the discovery could extend into a second compartment to the west, which has the potential to be of a similar size.
An appraisal well will be required to confirm this upside and is currently under consideration by the joint venture partners, the company added.
Nick Cooper, CEO of Ophir Energy, said, “The Taachui-1 discovery continues the 100 per cent drilling success rate on Blocks 1, 3 and 4 and adds further resource to support the LNG development in Tanzania. The result is important to Ophir for two reasons — firstly it extends the proven hydrocarbon system to the eastern limit of, and partly de-risks, Ophir Energy’s East Pande permit on which the Tende-1 well will be drilled later in 2014; secondly the aggregate recoverable volumes of 472bn cubic metres are now approaching the threshold needed to underpin a potential third LNG train from Blocks 1, 3 and 4.”
