ARA Petroleum increases activity in Tanzania

ARA Petroleum Tanzania Ltd. (APT) will test Ntourya-2 (NT-2), spud Chikumbi-1 (CH-1), and work over Ntorya-1 (NT-1) in Tanzania, according to a release by partner Aminex PLC.

A 2-week well-testing program on NT-2 will provide additional information for design of in-field processing infrastructure. The test was originally scheduled for late March 2023 and is now expected to run in the coming months.

A new optimal target location of CH-1 was determined from analysis of initial 3D seismic processing and interpretation. Tanzanian authorities have given provisional approval of the new CH-1 well pad location and final written approval is expected imminently. APT recently received the first shipment of long lead items, including tubulars, required for the spudding of the well.

The NT-1 workover will enable rapid tie-in to the gas production infrastructure and bring the well into early production. The workover is scheduled after drilling CH-1. Tanzanian authorities have continued with workstreams to progress construction of the gas export pipeline from Ntorya to the Madimba gas plant.

Full processing of 3D seismic data is complete and interpretation is expected to be complete in fourth-quarter 2023 and may result in a full revision of gas reserve and resource potential for the field.

The field development plan for development of the Ntorya area has now been approved by all parties. The Ntorya discovery contains 1.8 tcf of gas, according to third-party CPR and has been proven by two wells both producing 20 MMscfd each during testing. 

APT is operator of Ntorya (75%) with partner Aminex (25%).