This pay is in addition to that encountered at the Lower and Deep Omicron discoveries announced on 9 November 2010.
The targets of the Sapele-1 well, on block MLHP-5 in the Etinde Permit, are a series of vertically stacked reservoir objectives, from the proven Miocene fairway down to the deeper Cretaceous fairway proven to be prolific elsewhere in West Africa.
Since the announcement on 9 November 2010, the well, which is drilling in water depths of around 20m, has been deepened by a further 123m to a current total depth of 3,483m in order to find a suitable point to set casing before drilling ahead into the cross-cut event.
The initial results from this section indicate that the well has intersected additional net hydrocarbon pay of 6m to 8m in high quality reservoir sands with an average porosity of 21%.
It is now planned to drill to a target depth (TD) of approximately 4,450m to test further prospective horizons, including the deeper Cretaceous, a play untested within this part of the Douala Basin.
Drilling activity is expected to take a further 20 to 30 days (excluding testing), and in the meantime planning for testing and appraisal drilling/sidetracking activities on the Omicron discoveries is underway.
Bowleven chief executive Kevin Hart said that whilst the company recognizes that further evaluation and appraisal are required, the additional pay encountered in the Miocene section provides further support to its view that the Omicron discoveries are potentially transformational.
"We look forward with anticipation to recommencing drilling and intersecting the deeper cross-cut event and Cretaceous Epsilon targets," Hart said.
