Cameroon focused Bowleven expects to spud the first of two appraisal wells at its Etinde permit in the second quarter of 2018.
“Two appraisal well locations have been agreed with our partners targeting combined additional volumes of approximately 1 to 2 tcf of gas in place (GIIP). A 2 tcf increase in GIIP resource approximates to an addition of 0.8 bcf of dry gas and 131 mmbbl of condensate,“ the company said in a statement on Thursday.
A carry with a nominal value of up to $40 million covers Bowleven’s share of the drilling and testing programs’ expenditure. The Etinde Joint venture comprises NewAge (operator), Lukoil and Bowleven.
The company said that Vantage Drilling’s Topaz Driller jack-up rig was expected to mobilize to Cameroon waters shortly, with the first well, IM-6, due to be spud in the late second quarter of 2018.
The first well, IM-6, is targeting the southern boundary of the “Intra-Isongo Marine” gas condensate field discovered by the IM-5 well in 2015. The primary objective is to firm-up the volume of petroleum resources in the field. The Gross Contingent Resources, on a P50 (2C) basis of the various fields, have been determined at c0.9 tcf of gas with c95 million bbls of condensate (100 % basis). The IM-6 well is targeting an additional 0.7 tcf of gas in place on a 2C basis.
The IM-6 well has a secondary target of clipping the geographical edge of stratigraphically higher and lower sand packages that look to be similar to the existing Intra-Isongo discovery. The chance of success of the IM-6 well has been assessed as circa 50 %.
The IM-7 well will target the main body of both these additional sand packages and has the potential to add a further 1.3 tcf of gas in place (on a 2C basis) to the overall resources. The entire drilling program is expected to complete in December 2018.
The Joint Venture partners have previously agreed that a commercially viable FLNG scheme with a domestic gas offtake could present a credible forward development plan.
“The timing of this development activity is largely dependent on which development scheme the joint venture proceeds with. Bowleven remains committed to progressing development activities with the number one priority being the earliest possible monetization of the Etinde asset,” Bowleven said.