Tanzania Has Discovered Over 2 Trillion Cubic Feet of Additional Natural Gas In a New Off Shore Well.
Statoil Head of Communications, Genevieve Kasanga With High Impact Well Location Map: We Have Discovered More Gas….
Oil and gas prospectors Statoil and ExxonMobil have discovered between 2 – 3 trillion cubic feet of additional natural gas in a new offshore well in the Tanzanian section of the Indian Ocean close to Mozambique, Statoil’s Head of Communications in Tanzania, Genevieve Kasanga, has told TZ Business News.
The discovery is Statoil and co-venturer ExxonMobil’s sixth discovery and the fifth high impact discovery in Block 2 offshore Tanzania, she said in a Statement on Wednesday, June 18, 2014. The new gas discovery was made in the same Lower Cretaceous sandstones as the gas discovery in the Zafarani-1 well drilled in 2012.
Discovery of the additional 2 trillion to 3 trillion cubic feet (tcf)* of natural gas in place at the Piri-1 well brings “the total of in-place volumes up to approximately 20 tcf in Block 2,” she said in the statement.
“Since 2012 we have had a 100 percent success rate in Tanzania and the area has become a core exploration area in a very short period of time. We quickly went from drilling one well to a multi-well programme and with Piri-1 we are continuing the success,” Ms Kasanga quoted Nick Maden, senior vice president for Statoil’s exploration activities in the Western Hemisphere as saying.
The Piri-1 discovery is the venture’s sixth discovery in Block 2. It was preceded by the four successful high-impact gas discoveries, Zafarani-1, Lavani-1, Tangawizi-1 and Mronge-1, and a sixth discovery in the Lavani-2 well beneath the Lavani-1 discovery. Piri-1 was drilled by the drillship Discoverer Americas.
The well location is 2 kilometres southwest of the Lavani-1 well at 2,360-metre water depth. The Discoverer Americas has now moved location and is currently drilling the Binzari prospect in Block 2.
Gas Wells Drill Ship Discoverer Americas
“Additional prospectivity has been mapped and will be tested throughout 2014 and 2015. We expect to drill several additional exploration and appraisal wells and hope that the results from these wells will continue to add gas volumes for a future large-scale gas infrastructure development,” Maden said.
Statoil operates the licence on Block 2 on behalf of Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) and has a 65 percent working interest. ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Tanzania Limited holds the remaining 35 percent. Statoil has been in Tanzania since 2007, when it was awarded the operatorship for Block 2. (*1 Tcf =180 million barrels of oil equivalent)
