Cairn hits oil offshore Senegal

Oil samples have been recovered in the FAN-1 exploration well being drilled offshore Senegal by FAR Ltd  and its joint venture partners Cairn Energy PLC (Operator), ConocoPhillips and Petrosen – the Senegalese national oil company.

Elevated gas and fluorescence were encountered in a shallow secondary target and the presence of oil was confirmed by an intermediate logging program.

Oil samples from a thin sand were collected by an MDT wireline formation tester for further analysis. This well data confirms the existence of a working petroleum system.

The FAN-1 well has reached a depth of 4402 metres where intermediate casing has now been set. The well will be deepened to planned Total Depth (“TD”) of approximately 5000 metres. Conclusive results for this well will not be available until drilling operations are completed and all of the well data is fully assessed.

Cairn expects that drilling of the FAN-1 well will be completed during the next month after which time the rig will be moved to the SNE-1 well location, the second well of the two well program offshore Senegal.

FAR Managing Director, Cath Norman said, “The presence of oil In the secondary target is important in helping our geological understanding of the margin and is significant because it confirms the existence of a working petroleum generating system. It is very pleasing that the building blocks of a working petroleum system are present and we look forward to drilling ahead to deeper objectives in FAN-1 and completing the SNE-1 well.”

Pre-drill estimates

The FAN-1 well is designed to test a stacked fan structure with the potential to contain approximately 900 million barrels of oil (mmbbls) (unrisked prospective resources) with approximately 135mmbbls net to FAR which owns a 15% working interest.

FAN-1 will be followed immediately by the SNE-1 well to be drilled on the shelf targeting approximately 600mmbbls of oil (unrisked prospective resources) with approximately 90mmbbls net to FAR

About the drilling offshore Senegal

FAN-1 is the first exploration well in a two well program, offshore Senegal with the wells to be drilled back to back. The first well will be located on the North Fan prospect in 1,500m water depth. This well will be immediately followed by a second exploration well targeting a shelf edge prospect in 1,100m of water .

These be the first deep water (>1,000m) wells drilled in Senegalese waters and the first offshore wells to be drilled for over 20 years. The two exploration wells will test combined prospective resources of approximately 1.5 billion barrels of unrisked prospective resources (225 mmbbls net to FAR ) and FAR retains a 15% working interest in the blocks.  The FAN-1 well is a pure exploration well and, even if successful, will not be completed as a commercial production well. In the event of a success, the Joint Venture may decide to conduct further drilling and evaluation activities.