Tower Resources to drill at Thali off Cameroon

Tower Resources is taking steps to drill on the shallow water Thali license offshore Cameroon. 

Map of Thali. From Tower.

Thali is in the Rio del Rey basin in the eastern part of the Niger Delta, covering an area of 119.2sq km, in 8-48m water depth.

Following a technical committee meeting and operating committee meeting between Tower, the Cameroon Ministry of Mines, Industry & Technological Development (MINMIDT) and the Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures (SNH) held last week, MINMIDT and SNH have agreed on next steps of the PSC commitments.

Steps include to conduct reprocessing of the existing 3D seismic data and conduct specific specialist studies such as attribute analysis, including AVO and pore pressure prediction, and coherency cubes on that data; continue with the geological and geophysical interpretations, using that reprocessed data, to refine and high-grade the prospect inventory on the Thali PSC block, to mature the drillable prospects; to investigate rig availability with appropriate technical specifications. 

Based on this work, Tower aims to provide SNH with a prospect inventory and prioritization during Q2 2018, and will agree with SNH a location for the first new well on the block.

In respect of acquisition of new seismic data on the block, Tower says it will continue to search for a suitable seismic contractor; it being understood that the actual acquisition of new data may need to be deferred.

The budget for the planned work activities for 2017 and 2018 has been agreed. Tower, SNH and MINMIDT have agreed to meet in six months to evaluate the progress of the operations. Based on this progress the parties may contemplate an eventual extension of the initial period of the exploration phase to allow the fulfillment of all contractual obligations for the period.

“We are very pleased to have confirmed our next steps on the Thali license, including the reprocessing of existing 3D data, with a view to finalizing priorities for drilling in 2018,” says Jeremy Asher, Tower chairman and CEO. “By deferring the acquisition of new 3D data in favor of reprocessing existing 3D data we can save time and money in the near term, and move faster towards sourcing a rig in the currently depressed rig market. 

“This not only accelerates our progress towards a well, but also makes the cost of our work program over the coming year much more affordable, even taking into consideration the last portion of the signature bonus which is now falling due. 

“With contingent oil-in-place estimated at 39 MMbbl (Pmean, gross) already discovered on the block, we are keen to take advantage of the low cost of rigs in the current market and to begin drilling to reach a commercial scale for development of this high-quality near-field block as soon as possible,” says Asher.

The Rio del Rey basin has, to date, produced over 1 billion bbl and has estimated remaining reserves of 1.2 billion boe, primarily within depths of less than 2000m. 

The Rio del Rey is a sub-basin of the Niger Delta, an area in which over 34.5 billion bbl has been discovered, with 2.5 billion boe attributed to the Cameroonian section.  The Thali Block has the potential to hold up to four distinct play systems, including the established play in which three discovery wells, two gas (Rumpi-1, Njonji-2) and one oil (Njonji-1), have already been drilled on the Block.  The current contingent oil-in-place estimate for the Njonji discovery is 39 MMbbl (Pmean, gross) with an estimated 7-15 MMbbl of recoverable oil. These are currently viewed as sub-commercial discoveries, but once better seismic imaging has been achieved Tower sees potential to add incremental oil reserves to achieve commerciality. There is also significant potential to develop prospects at deeper levels, in both structural and stratigraphic traps, once better imaging has been achieved.

Tower owns and operates 100% of the Thali PSC.