Liberia deepwater well finds oily basin, no reservoir
African Petroleum Corp. Ltd. said its Apalis-1 deepwater wildcat off Liberia confirmed the critical components of a working hydrocarbon system but found no commercial quality reservoir.
Apalis-1 results confirm that the LB-08 and LB-09 blocks are in a prospective oil prone basin, the company said. The well went to 3,665 m on Block 9 and encountered oil shows in several geological units including Tertiary and Cretaceous. African Petroleum has 100% interest in the blocks.
The company said it is accelerating a multiwell drilling program on the more than 25 exploratory prospects identified on the blocks. It is to drill the next well, which will focus on the deeper basinal zone where improved reservoir quality is expected in the well-developed Cretaceous fan system, in the fourth quarter of 2011 and first quarter of 2012.
Meanwhile, African Petroleum said a 3D seismic survey on Block SL-03 off Sierra Leone is 65% complete. The block is west of Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s Venus and Mercury discoveries and targets similar Upper Cretaceous prospects.
The company has also identified an extensive system of Upper Cretaceous fans in interpreting the 3D seismic survey shot off Gambia in which African Petroleum has 60% interest.
Anadarko is drilling the Montserrado prospect in Block LB-15 off Liberia to test a large Jubilee-type Cretaceous fan play 53 miles southeast of its Mercury find. Numerous follow-up prospects have been
identified and mapped on three contiguous blocks, but Anadarko’s next well is Jupiter-1 off Sierra Leone.
Alan Petzet | Chief Editor Exploration
Alan Petzet is Chief Editor-Exploration of Oil & Gas Journal in Houston. He is editor of the Weekly E&D Newsletter, emailed to OGJ subscribers, and a regular contributor to the OGJ Online subscriber website.
Petzet joined OGJ in 1981 after 13 years in the Tulsa World business-oil department. He was named OGJ Exploration Editor in 1990. A native of Tulsa, he has a BA in journalism from the University of Tulsa.