Oil and gas company Eco Atlantic said Friday it expected to start drilling at its Gazania-1 well off South Africa in September, as the Island Innovator rig, owned by Island Drilling Company AS, was released and mobilized Friday.
The Gazania-1 well is located in the Orange Basin in South Africa. The Orange Basin straddles the offshore waters of Namibia and South Africa, where major discoveries on both the Graff-1 well, drilled by Shell, and the Venus-1 well, drilled by TotalEnergies, have recently been announced.
The Island Innovator rig is now under contract to Eco and its JV partners and will move on to the Gazania-1 well on Block 2B, 25km offshore the Northern Cape in Orange Basin South Africa. The rig is expected to arrive and spud by the end of September 2022, subject to weather conditions.
The Gazania-1 prospect is targeting a 300 million barrels light oil resource. The well will take approximately 25 days to drill, and the JV partners plan to seal and plug the well after the test, with no equipment being left on the sea floor. The partners have also approved the option to drill a sidetrack well contingent on a discovery in the main target.
The JV partnership in respect of Block 2B comprises Eco Atlantic (50% WI and Operator), Africa Energy Corp (27.5% WI), Panoro 2B Limited, a subsidiary of Panoro Energy ASA (12.5% WI), and Crown Energy AB (10% WI).
Colin Kinley, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Eco Atlantic, commented: "We are excited to get underway with our drilling campaign at Block 2B in the Orange Basin offshore South Africa. A successful outcome at the Gazania-1 well has the potential to be transformational for Eco and our JV partners.