Anadarko Petroleum encountered approximately 190ft (58m) of net natural gas pay at its Orca-1 discovery well, off Mozambique, the company announced on April 18, 2013.
The gas discovery is contained in a Paleocene fan system at Offshore Area 1 in the Rovuma Basin. Anadarko's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Exploration, Bob Daniels, said the company will pursue a two-well appraisal program to define the extent of the Orca field. That program will commence following drilling on two exploration wells Linguado and Espadarte.
The drillship Transocean Millennium drilled the Orca-1 exploration well to 16,391ft total depth, in water depths of approximately 3,481ft.
"Orca is a single large Paleocene column, and its proximity to shore provides additional options and flexibility for potential future development," Daniels said.
Anadarko operates Offshore Area 1 with a 36.5% working interest. Its partners include Mitsui E&P Mozambique Area 1, Ltd (20%), BPRL Ventures Mozambique B.V. (10%), Videocon Mozambique Rovuma 1 Limited (10%) and PTT Exploration & Production Plc (8.5%). Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos, ep's 15% interest is carried through the exploration phase.
Anadarko announced that it completed drilling operations at the Kubwa well offshore Kenya. The company said non-commercial oil shows in reservoir-quality sands were encountered at the well, which is located inside block L-07. Daniels said he is encouraged by the results.
"The Kubwa well tested multiple play concepts and provided useful data regarding the prospectivity of our 6 million acre position offshore Kenya," Daniels said. "The (Transocean Millennium) rig will now mobilize south to drill the Kiboko well."
Anadarko operates the L-07 Block with a 50% working interest. Its co-venture partners include Total E&P Kenya B.V. (40%) and PTT Exploration & Production Plc (10%).