SOCO International has begun drilling operations at the Lidongo X Marine-101 (“LXM-101”) exploration well in the Marine XI Block, located in the Congo Basin, offshore the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville).
The well is designed to test the extension of an adjacent gas/condensate/oil field into the Marine-XI license block. The LXM-101 well is located 23 kilometres north west of Pointe Noire in a water depth of approximately 45 metres.
The planned total depth for the well is provisionally estimated to be 2,600 metres Total Vertical Depth subsea (“TVDss”), although provision has been made to continue drilling to a maximum depth of circa 3,100 metres TVDss, terminating in the lower most part of the Djeno sandstone formation.
The well is being be drilled using the jack-up drilling rig Noble Percy Johns, and is expected to take 35 to 45 days to drill.