Reported By:
| Edited By: Debjit Chakraborty,Sreejiraj Eluvangal |Source: DNA |Updated: Mar 17, 2018, 03:03 AM IST
Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) and Videocon Industries may have run into yet another profitable offshore block in partnership with the Texas-based Anadarko, three months months after the duo struck a big, if expensive, oil reserve in Brazil’s sub-salt belt.
In what has been described as the first such discovery in offshore East Africa, the American firm found gas while drilling the first well in the deep water Rovuma Basin off the coast of Mozambique in southern African coast, in the Indian Ocean.
Like in the case of the Wahoo discovery off the Brazilian coast, this block, too, has BPCL and Videocon teaming up with Anadarko, the operator and Britain’s Cove Energy. The two Indian companies own 11.75% each in the offshore prospect.
“The well encountered a substantial hydrocarbon column in excellent quality reservoirs. Importantly this discovery, the first of its kind offshore east Africa, unlocks the hydrocarbon potential of a new petroleum province in the Rovuma basin offshore Mozambique and paves the way for more success in our fully funded ongoing deepwater drilling campaign,” said chief executive of Cove Energy John Craven.
“It is a major gas discovery. We encountered more than 145 metres of net pay in high-quality reservoir sands, with a gross column of over 366 metres,” D Rajkumar, managing director of Bharat PetroResources, said. Shares of BPCL surged on the gas discovery news, rising as much as 8.7% on the National Stock Exchange. It ended the day at Rs 591.20, up 4.8%.
AIM-listed Cove Energy, which owns 10% in the block, saw its stock up by around 54% to 36 pence on the London Stock Exchange.
Anadarko, which has substantially more interests than Cove, however saw its stock move up just 1.3% on the New York Stock Exchange.
The company’s senior vice-president, Bob Daniels said the discovery has substantially altered the risk perception of the basin.
“The intermediate results of the Windjammer well are positive for the partnership and the people of Mozambique,” he said, pointing out that the discovery was truly fortuitous. “This is true rank wildcat exploration, and to have our first deepwater exploration well result in a discovery with more than 480 net feet of pay, thus far, is a strong indication of the potential of this basin. The Windjammer discovery de-risks a substantial portion of approximately 50 leads and prospects that we’ve identified across our 2.6-million-acre position in the basin,” he added.
Videocon and BPCL had acquired their stakes in the basin from Anadarko in August 2008, two years after the American firm won its rights to the block.
While Videocon paid $75 million, BPCL’s price has not been revealed. Earlier, Anadarko, BPCL and Videocon had struck oil in their Brazilian pre-salt basin, a development that sent stock prices, particularly that of Videocon, spiralling upwards.
Anadarko also expects to drill two to four additional exploration wells in the Rovuma Basin this year. The company said it will move the rig to the adjacent block after completing the present well and examine the results on the early drilling before deciding whether to drill in Rovuma first or the adjacent, Collier block.
“To date, the Windjammer well has been drilled to a depth of approximately 14,000 feet in about 4,800 feet of water, approximately 30 miles east of the Mozambique coastline.
The company anticipates drilling another 4,100 feet in this well to gain additional geological information prior to reaching total depth,” the company, which owns 43% of the block, said. Each of the exploration wells are estimated to cost around $80 million for drilling.
