The Mukuyu-2 well, drilled using the Exalo Rig 202, showed hydrocarbons in a total of four hydrocarbon samples obtained from two separate zones in the Upper Angwa, and two formation water samples from the Basal Pebbly Arkose formation
Pressurised sample chambers containing gas recovered to the surface from Mukuyu-2. (Credit: Invictus Energy Limited)
Australia-based upstream oil and gas company Invictus Energy has made a new gas discovery in the Mukuyu-2 well at its 80% owned and operated Cabora Bassa project in Zimbabwe.
The Mukuyu-2 well, located 6.8km to the north-east of the Mukuyu-1, has been drilled using the Exalo Rig 202, to an intermediate Total Depth (TD) was 2,987m Measured Depth (mMD).
Invictus has undertaken an intermediate wireline logging run, with a primary objective of obtaining hydrocarbon samples from Upper Angwa reservoirs.
The company found gas in four hydrocarbon samples, obtained from two separate zones in the Upper Angwa, and two formation water samples from the Basal Pebbly Arkose formation.
Invictus said that only a limited volume of wireline logging data was acquired over the interval from 1,969mMD to 2,975mMD in the Basal Pebbly Arkose and Upper Angwa formations.
Also, the properties of gas and fluid from the samples will be confirmed through laboratory testing, after the samples are dispatched from the rig for analysis.
Invictus Energy managing director Scott Macmillan said: “The discovery represents one of the most significant developments in the onshore Southern Africa oil and gas industry for decades.
“I’m extremely proud to be involved with the Invictus team and our partners in opening up one of the last untested rift basins. The perseverance and hard work by our dedicated team has paid off.
“The Company has delivered an exceptional result from the first two wells drilled in Mukuyu, which provides us with significant running room in our large portfolio of prospects and leads for further discoveries in our acreage in the Cabora Bassa basin.”
The wireline log interpretation estimates a preliminary net pay of 13.9m for the Upper Angwa, which is still subject to further calibration of the logs with core and fluid data.
Invictus said that further appraisal and technical evaluation of log, core, seismic and well-test data is required to determine the full extent of the resource size.
After the fluid sampling, thirteen large-volume sidewall core samples were recovered from priority points in the Pebbly Arkose and Upper Angwa.
The company will use the core samples to calibrate the wireline log data in post-well analysis.
Exalo Rig 202 will drill towards the sidetrack section TD at around 3,400mMD through Lower Angwa reservoirs where multiple zones are interpreted from logs.
After the completion of the 8½-inch hole section drilling, the sidetrack well will be logged including wireline formation testing, fluid sampling and final results.
Macmillan added: “The Mukuyu-2 discovery, 7km away and 450m up-dip of the Mukuyu-1 well, which can subsequently be classified as a discovery, provides confirmation of the large potential of the Mukuyu field which has a structural closure of over 200km2.
“With additional hydrocarbon-bearing reservoirs ahead, the focus now is to complete the drilling and evaluation program and obtain further wireline data including fluid samples to declare an additional discovery from the Lower Angwa formation.”