Australian oil and gas company Far has hired Stena Drilling's Stena IceMax drillship to drill the Bambo-1 well offshore The Gambia. The well is expected to be spudded in the fourth quarter of 2021.
The Bambo-1 well in Block A2 is designed to drill into 3 prospects with a total estimated recoverable, prospective resource of 1,118 mmbbls (arithmetic sum of the Best Estimates, 559 mmbbls net to FAR), and the chance of geological success for the various horizons range from 7% to 37%, according to FAR.
FAR is the operator of the offshore block with a 50% working interest in the A2 and A5 permits with its joint venture partner, PC Gambia Ltd, a subsidiary of Malaysia's Petronas.
"If successful, a discovery could result in a standalone development which would be The Gambia’s first oil production," Far said.
Far Managing Director Cath Norman said: "We are pleased to be recommencing exploration drilling at FAR with this high impact well in The Gambia and the same drill team that drilled efficiently and safely for the Samo-1 well in 2018.
"The rig is planned to commence drilling in Q4 this year and the well will be the first well to be drilled in the Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea-Conakry (MSGBC) Basin since the collapse of the market in the wake of the oil price crash and the COVID-19 pandemic and we look forward to getting back to basics at FAR and delivering value to our shareholders through successful exploration drilling.
"A discovery of oil offshore The Gambia would be extremely significant for FAR shareholders and the people of The Gambia and help move Gambia out of ‘energy poverty' and to transition from burning heavy fuel oil for power generation”.