Muanda International Oil Co. (MIOC), a subsidiary of Perenco, drilled two wells to date in 2024 offshore the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). These are the first exploration discoveries offshore DRC in almost 30 years, the company said in a release.
The Moke-East well, between Lukami and Motoba fields in the coastal basin, was drilled by the Dixstone-owned Nuada self-elevated Class 82 SD-C jack-up drilling rig. The well encountered a 24-ft net oil-bearing column. The discovery will be tested and the well completed in the coming weeks.
LUKS-A, the second exploration well, targeted a southern extension of the Pinda formation. It has now been plugged following insufficient hydrocarbon potential to complete the well.
The Nuada rig spudded the first of 12 wells on GCO field as part of MIOC’s continuing development drilling campaign offshore DRC to access additional resources in the country. The wells are expected to be completed in parallel with the CS02 workover unit in the same location.
In 2021, Perenco bought all shares of Teikoku Oil (D.R. Congo) Co. Ltd., an INPEX subsidiary, acquiring all the company’s interests in the offshore D. R. Congo block (OGJ Online Oct. 28, 2021).
Alex Procyk | Upstream Editor
Alex Procyk is Upstream Editor at Oil & Gas Journal. He has also served as a principal technical professional at Halliburton and as a completion engineer at ConocoPhillips. He holds a BS in chemistry (1987) from Kent State University and a PhD in chemistry (1992) from Carnegie Mellon University. He is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).