Sterling Energy Plc provided an update for the Ntem Concession, offshore Cameroon.
Bamboo-1, the first exploration well to be drilled on the Ntem Concession commenced operations on 9 February 2014 and Murphy Cameroon Ntem Oil Co. Ltd (“Murphy”), the operator with 50% working interest, has confirmed that the well, located in 1,600 m of water, has reached a total depth of 4,747 m and evaluation operations have been conducted.
The well was designed to target a series of stacked Cretaceous aged, basin floor submarine fans, the main target being the Bamboo fan. The well encountered all pre-drill targets, however analysis of the data indicate that no commercial hydrocarbons were found and the well will now be plugged and abandoned.
The data from the Bamboo-1 well will be analysed in detail and the results used to update the assessment of the remaining prospectivity of this large deep-water block that covers some 2,319 km 2 . The current phase of the Ntem concession runs to April 2015, with the option to extend the exploration term by a further two years.
Sterling Cameroon Limited (“Sterling”) has a 50% non-operated working interest in the Ntem Concession. Murphy, under the terms of the farm-in agreement signed in 2011, will pay Sterling’s share of the costs for the drilling of the Bamboo-1 well.
Alastair Beardsall, Chairman and acting CEO of Sterling Energy Plc , commented: “Bamboo-1 was the first well in a large unexplored area. We have identified further Cretaceous and Tertiary prospects in the Ntem block and these will be re-evaluated with the significant new data from Bamboo-1 before determining our future plan for the Ntem block.”