Petroleum Africa
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Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Swala Energy Ltd. submitted bids for three hydrocarbon exploration permits in the Zambian acreage near the end of June. The bids are for permits known as Block 31, Block 42, and Block 44. If the applications are successful, Swala will have an 83% equity interest in any block awarded.
Dr. David Mestres Ridge, Swala’s CEO said: “We are delighted to have been given the opportunity of bidding for these blocks by the Government of the Republic of Zambia. Block 31 offers a frontier opportunity in the East African Rift System (EARS) where hydrocarbon generation and accumulation has been proven elsewhere. Blocks 42 and 44 are Karoo Blocks that offer an opportunity to investigate basins where Swala believes there is potential for large structural traps.”
A portion of the western branch of the EARS lies within Block 31 including part of Lake Tanganyika where indications of a working hydrocarbon system have been reported. The block also lies adjacent to the Beach Petroleum acreage where they are currently carrying out extensive exploration activity in the Tanzanian part of the lake. No wells have been drilled on the lake to date, but existing 2D seismic indicates there is potential for hydrocarbons.
Block 42 lies within the older Karoo-age, Luangwa Basin. The Karoo sequence contains potential reservoir rocks and lacustrine source rocks. Two wells were drilled by Placid Oil in the mid 1980s but these were drilled on very recent, in geological time, structures post-dating any hydrocarbon charge. Swala said that a study of the seismic data acquired during the 1980s demonstrates that any source rocks would certainly have reached sufficient depths to have generated hydrocarbons. These structures were not tested in the earlier drilling program. Swala plans to reprocess and reinterpret the legacy seismic data as part of its work program.
Block 44 lies in the southern part of the country, located on the margins of another Karoo-aged basin, the Kariba basin. Gravity and seismic data suggest that the basin has a thick sequence of Karoo aged sediments. The basin was explored by Mobil in the late 1980s and a large volume of 2D seismic data was acquired at that time but no wells were drilled. Swala plans to reprocess and reinterpret the legacy seismic data as part of its work program.
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