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Monday, October 22, 2012
Orca Exploration Group Inc. and its subsidiary in Tanzania, PanAfrican Energy Tanzania Ltd., jointly announced that its new SS-11 well is onstream. The SS-11 well, completed in June, is expected to maintain and strengthen reliability of gas production from Tanzania’s Songo Songo gas field.
The well was flowline connected to the on-island gas processing plant and successfully brought onstream October 3. The SS-11 is currently producing approximately 30 Mmcf/d of natural gas.
Announcing this development, Orca chairman and CEO W. David Lyons stated, "We congratulate our team in Tanzania for bringing this well onstream to ensure sustained gas production capacity. We also congratulate our local Tanzanian contractors on this project. They supplied 100% local content for this installation and construction project. The installation involved developing an innovative solution to a unique engineering challenge which was met by local construction of a complex barge to lay the pipeline. We delivered the project on budget and in roughly one-third of the time."
With SS-11 now onstream the SS-9 well was taken off production and suspended, permanently. The SS-9 well, which was producing approximately 30 Mmcf/d, has been permanently suspended due to a tubing leak resulting in rising casing annulus pressures. To ensure sustainable production levels, Orca is also reviewing the integrity of the SS-3 and SS-4 wells which are currently producing a total of approximately 18 Mmcf/d. All three wells (SS-9, SS-3 and SS-4) were drilled by TPDC between 1976 and 1983 and have reached the end of their useful life.
The company said that its view is that to ensure continued safe operations, SS-3 will need to be suspended immediately and, depending on the results of the tests, SS-4 may need to be suspended over the coming weeks. It plans to make up the production shortfall with additional volumes from SS-10 and SS-11. As a result no material change in field production levels of approximately 101 Mmcf/d is currently anticipated. There will be, however, no redundant capacity in the facility or pipeline until additional wells can be drilled in the field and facilities expanded.
Plans for an additional development well, SS-12, were placed on hold until the renegotiation of certain terms of the Songo Songo PSA and related issues arising from the Government Negotiating Committee discussions have been fully resolved as well as the significant outstanding TANESCO receivable having been paid.
Orca anticipates that production from the new SS-11 well can be increased to over 40 Mmcf/d with the planned debottlenecking of the gas gathering infrastructure expected to be completed over the next few months.
With the tie-in of SS-11, PanAfrican Energy has achieved a number of important milestones in Tanzania, including the first offshore heavy lift achieved in East Africa and the first shallow water application of Technip's technically advanced Coflexip pipe in East Africa.
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