West Africa focused explorer FAR says it has identified 1.1 billion barrels of resources in its two blocks offshore The Gambia.
The blocks A2 and A5 contain combined estimated prospective resources of 1.1 billion barrels (unrisked, best estimate, recoverable, 100% basis) with 926 MMbbl net to FAR, the company says, following an audit by advisory firm RISC Operations.
The resources are in two propects, Bambo and Samo, which FAR says is on trend with the world class SNE oil field, offshore neighbouring Senegal.
Operations are underway to prepare for drilling on Samo in late 2018. It will be the only exploration well to be drilled offshore The Gambia since the Jammah-1 well drilled in 1979.
Blocks A2 and A5 cover 2682sq km within the Mauritania-SenegalGuinea-Bissau (MSGB) Basin and lie about 30km offshore in 50-1500m water depth. Some 1504sq km of modern 3D seismic data was acquired over A2 and A5.
From that, FAR has identified the Samo and Bambo prospects, and others. The Bambo targets a separate reservoir objective on the same structural trend as the Samo prospect.
The Samo prospect has two target intervals, is on trend and shares many similarities with the SNE oil field. FAR says it has an estimated chance of success, endorsed by RISC, of 55%.
The Bambo play type is less understood but the Bambo prospect is still highly regarded with a chance of success of 18%. More work will be carried out to improve FAR's understanding of the play and to further derisk the prospect, says the firm.
FAR has also mapped a number of large leads in Block A5. "This is in an area of poorer data quality and extends outside the 3D seismic coverage," says FAR. "These leads will be the subject of further mapping when the reprocessing of the seismic survey is available."
FAR Managing Director, Cath Norman, said: 'Since making the discoveries at SNE and FAN offshore Senegal, and subsequently at FAN South and SNE North, it has been FAR’s core strategy to build on our geological knowledge, contacts and nimbleness in the market to add high quality drilling opportunities in the MSGB Basin for our shareholders.
"As the RISC audit testifies, the opportunity we have captured in Blocks A2 and A5 offshore The Gambia represent a huge prize if successful. Given the eight successful wells drilled on the shelf to date in Senegal and into the key reservoirs in the Samo prospect, the geological chance of success for drilling this prospect is high for a frontier exploration well."
Success in the Samo well would be "truly transformational" for The Gambia and FAR, the firm says.
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