Papa-1 Delivers Pay for BG and Ophir

BG and Ophir Energy have made the first Cretaceous gas discovery outboard of the Rufiji Delta on Block 3 offshore Tanzania with the drilling of the Papa-1 well. The well spud on May 29 in 2,186 meters of water and was drilled by the DeepSeaMetro 1 drillship to a total depth of 5,544 meters.

The Papa-1 represents the partner’s sixth discovery made offshore Tanzania.

The well encountered an 89-meter gas bearing column in interbedded Campanian sandstones. Ophir management’s preliminary analysis of the discovery suggests an in-place resource of 0.5 - 2.0 Tcf. Further detailed petrophysical and core analysis will commence shortly to calibrate the logging data and refine the in place and recoverable resource estimates.
 

Ophir, in a statement said that the well represented the first exploration test of Upper Cretaceous Intraslope play outboard of the Rufiji Delta and was the first well to be drilled in Block 3. The well was designed to evaluate sandstones of Campanian and Albian age within the structural Papa Prospect. The Papa-1 further de-risks the deeper, Upper Cretaceous Intraslope play in Tanzania.

Additional resources have now been discovered in the Cretaceous stratigraphy outboard of both the Rovuma and Rufiji Deltas by the Mzia-1 and Papa-1 wells. The partners plan to issue and update the in-place and recoverable resource estimates from the Mzia and Papa discoveries on the new Cretaceous Intraslope play following the ongoing petrophysical analysis.

The BG-Ophir JV’s first four discoveries have successfully tested targets of Miocene, Oligocene, and Paleocene age in the Tertiary Intraslope Play and are currently estimated to have discovered total recoverable resources of around 7 Tcf. The fifth discovery, Mzia, and the sixth discovery, Papa, both in the new Upper Cretaceous Intraslope Play are expected to add considerable additional recoverable resource to this total.

The partners will now release the DeepSea Metro 1 to Apache who has sub-let the drillship to drill a well on Block L8 offshore neighboring Kenya. Following drilling by Apache, the rig will return to Tanzania to continue operations for the BG/Ophir JV on Block 1 where the next in the sequence will be two step-out exploration and appraisal wells around the 3.4 Tcf Jodari discovery for a potential hub for the LNG development on Block 1.

Nick Cooper, CEO of Ophir said:

“Papa-1 was the sixth well, and sixth consecutive discovery, for the Ophir-BG Joint Venture offshore Tanzania. The Papa discovery reaffirms the potential repeatability of the Intraslope Play and ability to aggregate substantial gas volumes across Blocks 1,3, and 4.

“The two most recent wells in Tanzania were designed to test the deeper-lying prospectivity of the Cretaceous Intraslope play. The Mzia-1 success in May 2012 confirmed for the first time the prospectivity in the Upper Cretaceous sequences outboard of the Rovuma Delta. The Papa-1 success now confirms similar Upper Cretaceous prospectivity outboard of the Rufiji Delta and represents the first discovery in Block 3. While recoverable resources are likely to be lower than pre-drill estimates, this very encouraging discovery is expected to lead to substantial additional resources from this new Upper Cretaceous play.

“The next drilling on Blocks 1,3,4 will focus on adding further resource around the Jodari discovery to form a potential hub for the LNG development.

“Separately, Ophir has received preliminary products from the recently recorded Block 1 3D seismic survey that is targeting the Rovuma Delta Basin Floor Fan play. Interpretation work is commencing to determine whether the area contains features potentially comparable to those discovered in the adjacent play offshore Mozambique.

“Ophir has transformed its resource base with the four discoveries across our assets in the first half of 2012. We anticipate two further well results from Equatorial Guinea by early September.”