Zarara spuds gas well in Kenya’s Pate field
Zarara Oil & Gas Ltd., a subsidiary of Midway Resources International, reported that it has spudded Pate-2 natural gas well on its production sharing contracts on Blocks L4 and L13 near Port Lamu in Kenya.
A drilling rig from Drilling Spares & Services Ltd. is drilling and running 20-in. casing for Pate-2 and Pate-3 wells to 300 m. Zarara also has a contract for the Sakson Rig SK604 owned by Sakson Drilling & Oil Services DMCC to complete drilling each well to a target depth of 4,500 m.
The current drilling campaign follows a 4-year evaluation program by Zarara involving 2D seismic over the original Pate-1 discovery area. Royal Dutch Shell PLC and BP PLC drilled Pate-1 in 1970. That well was plugged and abandoned because of downhole gas-control issues and for lack of a regional gas market at the time.
Pate-2 was stepped out 300 m from the Pate-1 well. Targets are the basal Kipini sandstones that flowed gas in Pate-1 as well as Paleocene-Cretaceous sands.
Zara Chief Operating Officer Austen Titford of Zarara’s Nairobi office said Pate-2 confirmed the original Pate-1 discovery. Pate-3 will be drilled directionally from the same site as Pate-2.
Kenya’s government currently holds 10% carried interest. If commercial, the government has rights to another 10% interest. Zarara holds the remainder.
Midway Resources is a private company with oil and gas interests in Kenya and Nigeria.
Contact Paula Dittrick at [email protected].
Paula Dittrick | Senior Staff Writer
Paula Dittrick has covered oil and gas from Houston for more than 20 years. Starting in May 2007, she developed a health, safety, and environment beat for Oil & Gas Journal. Dittrick is familiar with the industry’s financial aspects. She also monitors issues associated with carbon sequestration and renewable energy.
Dittrick joined OGJ in February 2001. Previously, she worked for Dow Jones and United Press International. She began writing about oil and gas as UPI’s West Texas bureau chief during the 1980s. She earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in journalism from the University of Nebraska in 1974.
