UK-based explorer Cairn Energy has met with mixed results on its latest exploration well offshore Senegal.
The BEL-1 well, drilled in 1031m water depth to 2767m total vertical depth, was targeting the Bellatrix exploration prospect and appraising the northern extent of the SNE field, discovered in 2014.
While the main exploration target was tight gas-bearing sandstone, deemed to be "not of productive reservoir quality," two other "good quality gas-bearing sand reservoirs," totaling 8M thickness, were encountered between the Bellatrix main objective and the deeper SNE appraisal target.
Cairn says the SNE appraisal confirmed huge extent of the SNE field and indicates an oil column of about 100m gross at BEL-1, similar to SNE-1, SNE-2 and SNE-3.
A fourth well, SNE-4, will now be drilled, using the Ocean Rig Athena, 5km south-east of the SNE-1 discovery well, to appraise the eastern extent of the giant field and confirm the nature of the upper reservoirs in the oil zone.
Cairn's 2015-16 Senegal exploration campaign had been plotted as a minimum three-well campaign, targeting more than 1 billion barrels gross risked resource in the SNE-1, or Shelf Edge, and FAN-1 discoveries, as well as a number of prospects and leads. Shelf Edge was described as potentially the largest oil discovery in 2014 by analysts Wood Mackenzie.
Cairn Energy's CEO Simon Thomson said: “The drilling program in Senegal continues to provide positive evidence of the scale and extent of the SNE field.
"The BEL-1 appraisal results have provided definitive information confirming the northern extent of the high quality reservoirs seen in the other wells and demonstrated an increased oil column in this area of the field."
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