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Monday, May 5, 2014
The results from Cobalt International’s Orca#1 pre-salt deepwater exploration well on Angola’s Block 20 are in and according to the company they are the “most significant to date.” The well was successfully tested at a facility-constrained rate of 3,700 bpd of oil and 16.3 Mmcf/d of gas in the upper Sag section of the discovery. Cobalt said that these results confirm that the Orca #1 well is capable of substantial sustained oil production rates.
The well was drilled to a measured depth of 12,703 ft and Cobalt estimates that it encountered approximately 250 ft of net oil pay predominantly in the upper Sag interval. Results of an extensive logging, coring and fluid acquisition program in addition to the DST confirm a significant discovery, which is the largest oil discovery found to date in the Kwanza Basin. Cobalt’s post drill estimates indicate a resource range of between 400 and 700 million barrels of oil.
The well was Cobalt’s fifth deepwater discovery offshore Angola.
Cobalt, as operator, has a 40% working interest in Block 20. Partners are Sonangol Pesquisa e Produção, S.A. and BP Exploration Angola (Kwanza Benguela) Limited, each with a 30% working interest.
“’The Orca discovery is by far the largest and most significant oil discovery to date in the Kwanza Basin, and is potentially one of the largest oil fields in Angola,” said Joseph H. Bryant, Cobalt’s chairman and CEO. “We are very encouraged and excited by our DST results and the extraordinary flow capacity of the Orca reservoir which gives us confidence that wells in the field will flow oil at rates equal to or greater than the rates we expect in our Cameia field. In addition, our drilling operations continue to improve, and our understanding of the Kwanza Basin reservoir systems has greatly improved by the extensive testing program that we carried out on this well. The excellent reservoir quality we encountered at Orca has positive implications on the rest of Cobalt’s vast Kwanza Basin portfolio, including our five discovered fields as well as our exploration prospects we have yet to drill.”
Cobalt also reported that it has commenced drilling the Cameia#3 well on the Cameia field. First oil from this field is anticipated in 2017, assuming the government sanctions the project in late-2014. The company also received a two-year extension from the Ministry of Petroleum for its Block 9 license. Once Cobalt completes operations at the Cameia#3 well, Cobalt will commence drilling the Loengo#1 on Block 9.
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