Independent upstream oil and gas company Invictus Energy has identified 13 potential hydrocarbon bearing zones and initiated planning to commence its Phase 2 drilling campaign at its 80%-owned Special Grant (SG) 4571 license in the Cabora Bassa Basin in northern Zimbabwe.
Having completed operations at its Mukuyu-1 ST1 well, 11 potential hydrocarbon bearing zones totaling a combined 225m have been identified at the Upper Angwa Formation, where wireline log interpretation has identified a porosity of 15%.
Gas saturation of up to 90% has also been identified in selected areas at the Upper Angwa Formation, while two zones have been identified in the Pebbly Arkose sections, which feature an indicated porosity of 20%.
“The Mukuyu-1 and ST1 drill campaign has been a great success,” stated Invictus Energy Managing Director, Scott Macmillan, adding, “This is an outstanding result and virtually unprecedented for the first well in a frontier basin, establishing a new petroleum province and substantially de-risking the Company’s wider acreage in the Carbora Bassa Basin.”
Meanwhile, Invictus Energy has been assessing results from its geological modeling of the Mukuyu-1 and Baobab-1 wells in an attempt to explore further prospects under the wider Cabora Bassa acreage as onshore drilling contract, Exalo Drilling’s, Rig 202 – which Invictus Energy has used for it Mukuyu-1 operations – undergoes maintenance and upgrade work ahead of Phase 2.
Highlighting further prospects for the basin, post-drill results from the Mukuyu-1 well have indicated a proven working hydrocarbon system and presence of gas-condensate, while showing the potential for light oil as evidenced from elevated mudgas and fluorescence and wireline log interpretation.
“We are still interpreting all the data, with results to be integrated into the seismic data and basin models to guide future well locations and exploration prospect selection,” Macmillan concluded.
SG 4571 is situated in the most prospective portion of the Cabra Bassa Basin and covers 250,000 acres, with the Mukuyu-1 well boasting an independently estimated 20 trillion cubic feet and 845 million barrels of conventional gas-condensate.