Image: Science Ed
Africa Oil’s acquisition of a 20% participating interest and operatorship of block 3B/4B from exploration and production Azinam received the greenlight from the South African government las week.
Block 3B/4B is located in the Orange Basin and covers an area of 17,581km2 in water depths ranging from 300 to 2,500m. Azinam will retain 20% of its participating interest and Ricocure also retains a 60% participating interest. The block is part of the developing Mid-Cretean oil market, where explorers expect to exploit many major exploratory wells that are capable of opening up prospects for a global petroleum province.
“Africa Oil has a significant footprint in several emerging plays extending from South Africa to Namibia, where both Total and Shell plan to drill potential play-openers in 2020 and at the same time are increasing their positions in other blocks adjacent to Block 3B/4B. From existing 3D seismic surveys, we have identified a number of similar prospects to those that the majors are targeting. In the near term, we are now looking forward to the drilling of Venus-1 and Luiperd-1 exploration wells that in case of exploration success, can have significant upside for our shareholders,” said Keith Hill, Africa Oil’s President and CEO.
In an existing 10,020km2 3D survey, which covers the majority of the region, partners have defined the leads and expectations inventory. Africa Oil and its partners will perform a regional subsurface analysis of current seismic, geological and engineering data during the initial period of three years, and will also involve selective reprocessing of the already developed 3D data, which can contribute to the identification of development opportunities and recommendations for future block renewals.
