The production test for Eni’s Minsala Marine 1 NFW exploration prospect, in shallow waters offshore Congo is complete.
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Map from Eni. |
Minsala Marine 1 NFW, located in the Marine XII block, is 35km from the shoreline and 12km from the Nené Marine discovery.
Eni says that during the production test, the well delivered in natural flow in excess of 5000b/d of oil and 14MMcf/d of gas from an opened section of 37m, out of the 420m-oil column identified in the discovery. The oil quality is 41° API.
Preliminarily estimates of Minsala Marine’s potential are about 1 billion boe in place, with 80% of that being oil. Eni’s next move is an appraisal plan for the discovery. The company has already begun studying the commercial development of its significant hydrocarbons reserves.
"The production test results have exceeded expectations and enables us to plan a fast commercial development of the important Minsala Marine find, similarly to what had been done at Nené Marine," says Claudio Descalzi, Eni CEO.
Eni has carried out an exploration program in the pre-salt geological plays of West Africa’s shallow waters, and already discovered nearly 4 billion boe in place between Congo and Gabon in four years.
The Italian giant has made three discoveries in the Marine XII including Minsala Marine, Litchjendily Marine and Nené Marine.
In October, Eni announced the light oil discovery in the Minsala Marine and estimated it to contain 1 billion boe in place. The well was drilled in 75m water depth to a total depth of 3700m.
At the beginning of the year, Eni drilled its third well, the Nené Marine 3, where it found a wet gas and light oil accumulation in the pre-salt clastic sequence that outlined a significant extension to the west of the reservoir and its hydraulic continuity. Nené Marine 3 is 2km from the Nené Marine 1 discovery well, and 4km from Nené Marine 2. During the production test in the oil interval, the well flowed more than 5000 b/d at 36° API gravity. Following the results of the well, Eni estimates that the discovery of Nené Marine field contains 1.2 billion bbl and 30 billion cu ft of natural gas in place. Eni is planning first production from the field in 2016.
Eni, through its own subsidiary Eni Congo SA is the operator of Marine XII with a 65% interest. Partners include New Age (25%) and national company Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo (SNPC, 10%).
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