Invictus Energy sees Mukuyu discovery as one of southern Africa’s most significant oil and gas developments
Invictus Energy (ASX: IVZ) has labelled its Mukuyu gas find in Zimbabwe an official “discovery” after obtaining further strong results from the Mukuyu-2 well at its 80%-owned and operated Cabora Bassa project.
The company’s assessment from the results of the two wells drilled so far at Mukuyu has also led to it describing the discovery as one of Africa’s most significant recent oil and gas successes.
“We are delighted to declare a gas discovery from the Mukuyu-2 sidetrack well in the Upper Angwa formation,” a buoyant managing director Scott Macmillan said.
“The discovery represents one of the most significant developments in the onshore southern Africa oil and gas industry for decades.”
Exceptional result
“The company has delivered an exceptional result from the first two wells drilled in Mukuyu, which provides us with significant running room in our large portfolio of prospects and leads for further discoveries in our acreage in the Cabora Bassa basin,” Mr Macmillan said.
He added that the Mukuyu-2 well, which was drilled 7km away and 450 metres updip of the Mukuyu-1 well, is now officially classified as a discovery, further confirming the large potential of the Mukuyu field which has a structural closure of over 200 sq km.
“With additional hydrocarbon-bearing reservoirs ahead, the focus now is to complete the drilling and evaluation program and obtain further wireline data including fluid samples to declare an additional discovery from the Lower Angwa formation,” he said.
Sidetrack drilling success
Invictus made the Mukuyu-2 declaration after undertaking a number of tests during the drilling of the well’s sidetrack.
The company was successful in recovering four hydrocarbon samples to surface from two separate zones in the Upper Angwa section using the wireline formation testing tool.
Wireline log interpretation has now calculated a preliminary net pay estimate of 13.9m for the Upper Angwa.
However, this estimate is still subject to further calibration of the logs with core and fluid data to determine appropriate net cutoffs and subsequent pay estimates.
Plenty of upside
The sidetrack well will now be deepened towards a planned total depth in the Lower Angwa of around 3,400m.
This will take it through Lower Angwa reservoirs where multiple zones were interpreted from logs to be hydrocarbon-bearing in Mukuyu-2.
The ultimate total depth will depend on the intersection of sands anticipated based on the Mukuyu-2 logs and observations around the prevailing formation pore pressures.
Following the conclusion of the drilling, Invictus plans to log the sidetrack well including wireline formation testing and fluid sampling before final results are assessed.
Completion of the sidetrack will also allow for the well to be suspended for future flow testing by running the 7-inch liner over this interval.
Invictus believes this will provide it with the opportunity in future operations to drill, evaluate and test the remaining portion of the Lower Angwa below 3,400m in 6-inch hole.