Oil samples have been recovered in the FAN-1 exploration well being drilled offshore Senegal, said partner in the project by FAR Ltd.
The well is being drilled by Cairn Energy (operator), ConocoPhillips, Far and Petrosen - the Senegalese national oil company.
According to Far, elevated gas and fluorescence were encountered in a shallow secondary target and the presence of oil was confirmed by an intermediate logging program. Oil samples from a thin sand were collected by an MDT wireline formation tester for further analysis. This well data confirms the existence of a working petroleum system.
The FAN-1 well has reached a depth of 4402m where intermediate casing has now been set. The well will be deepened to planned total depth (TD) of about 5000m.
Conclusive results for this well will not be available until drilling operations are completed and all of the well data is fully assessed.
The operator anticipates that drilling of the FAN-1 well will be completed during the next month after which time the rig will be moved to the SNE-1 well location, the second well of the two well program offshore Senegal.
FAR Managing Director, Cath Norman said: ”The presence of oil In the secondary target is important in helping our geological understanding of the margin and is significant because it confirms the existence of a working petroleum generating system.
"It is very pleasing that the building blocks of a working petroleum system are present and we look forward to drilling ahead to deeper objectives in FAN-1 and completing the SNE-1 well.”
The drilling program has been designated as “tight” by the operator, so no information related to depth or formation will be provided during the drilling beyond what is required to meet ASX continuous disclosure obligationsm, Far said.
Pre-drill estimates
The FAN-1 well is designed to test a stacked fan structure with the potential to contain approximately 900MM bbl (unrisked prospective resources) with approximately 135MMbbls net to FAR, which owns a 15% working interest. FAN-1 will be followed immediately by the SNE-1 well to be drilled on the
shelf targeting approximately 600MMbbl of oil (unrisked prospective resources) with approximately
90MMbbl net to FAR.
About the drilling offshore Senegal
FAN-1 is the first exploration well in a two well program, offshore Senegal with the wells to be drilled back to back. The first well will be on the North Fan prospect in 1500m water depth. This well will be
immediately followed by a second exploration well targeting a shelf edge prospect in 1100m of water. These will be the first deep water (>1000m) wells drilled in Senegalese waters and the first offshore wells to be drilled for over 20 years. The two exploration wells will test combined prospective resources of approximately 1.5 billion barrels of unrisked prospective resources and FAR retains a 15% working
interest in the blocks.
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