Angola’s ‘forgotten’ Block 16 back in the spotlight

Norwegian seismic firm TGS has completed reprocessing work on data that it hopes will spur renewed interest in Angola’s forgotten deepwater Block 16

The company has announced that it had finished work on the Block 16 GeoStreamer MC3D seismic dataset in the Lower Congo Basin, in partnership with Agência Nacional de Petróleo, Gás e Biocombustíveis (ANPG).

Exploration in the deepwater Lower Congo Basin has experienced a resurgence in recent years, TGS reported, with numerous significant discoveries being made and rapidly brought on stream.

"This 3,684-sq-km rejuvenation project utilises modern depth processing workflows to deliver enhanced imaging beyond the original data, enabling detailed evaluation of deeper target plays in both post-salt and pre-salt sections,” it said in a statement.

Angola’s Block 16 has remained largely under explored since the early 2010s, however, with the most recent exploration well drilled in 2013. Until recently, publicly-known oil and gas discoveries within Block 16, in the latest dataset, were limited to the Bengo (1994) and Longa (1995) Upper Miocene finds in the northern section.

However, TGS said that a recent re-evaluation of wells in the Lower Congo Basin has identified oil recovery from Upper Miocene reservoirs in the southern part of the survey area. The survey also provides partial coverage of the field, a marginal field development opportunity currently being marketed by ANPG.

Discovered in 2003, Tchihumba contains hydrocarbon-bearing zones within Upper Miocene, Lower Miocene and Oligocene sands, with recoverable volumes estimated at approximately 136mn barrels.

Additionally, the Lumpembe-1 oil discovery on Block 15/06, drilled in 2023 and currently undergoing development studies, falls within the survey’s coverage.

“TGS is very pleased to continue our support of exploration in this region with our high-quality seismic data,” said David Hajovsky, executive vice president multi-client, TGS. “These accumulations, along with the proximity of significant neighbouring discoveries, present strong opportunities for future exploration success.”

Other West African projects TGS has completed recently include an enhancement of its Fusion 3D seismic dataset offshore Sierra Leone, focusing on the Vega prospect.

Recent discoveries in South America have intensified interest in this region, TGS stated late last year, positioning Sierra Leone as a promising new exploration frontier.

“With growing interest from international oil companies and independents, the Fusion 3D data comes at a crucial time.”

TGS also signed an agreement last year to enhance datasets in Mauritania with the Ministère du Pétrole, des Mines et de l’Énergie, strengthening its position as the sole provider of multi-client subsurface data in the country.

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