Tullow on the African West Coast has a license in Senegal and many acres in Mauritania to the north. Also many licenses down the East Coast.
Senegal Operations and Licences Operations
Tullow operates the St. Louis exploration licence with a 60% interest. Partners include Petrosen, Senegal's state oil company and Dana.
The licence covers the northern-most inshore section of the Senegalese offshore area and adjoins Mauritanian Block 1 in which the company has a 38% interest. Tullow acquired a 1,200 km 2D survey in 2004 and subsequent interpretation identified various prospects, a select number of which will be further evaluated by recently acquired 3D seismic.
A 1,000 sq km 3D seismic survey, which straddled the boundary between St Louis and Block 1 in Mauritania, has recently been completed. The data acquired is currently being processed.
Mauritania Operations and Licences Operations
Tullow holds interests in eight blocks offshore Mauritania, which cover nearly 47,000 sq km, extend along 750 km of coastline and include most of the prospective offshore basin area. Since 2000, over 30 exploration, appraisal and development wells have been drilled. Of the exploration wells, Chinguetti, Tiof, Tevet, Aigrette and Banda all resulted in significant oil and gas discoveries, while the Faucon and Pelican wells discovered gas (the latter with the possibility of a downdip oil leg). Exploration success to date is roughly 50% at the Miocene stratigraphic level and 25% at the Cretaceous.
The Tiof, Banda, Tevet and Labeidna discoveries are operated by Petronas while Pelican, Aigrette and Faucon are operated by Dana. These are currently being evaluated for development and/or appraisal.
Chinguetti Field The Chinguetti development project is operated by Petronas and located in 800 metres of water. The development involved a gross capital expenditure of over US$720 million and comprised twelve wells - seven production wells, five wells for water re-injection and one for gas re-injection. Production, which commenced in late February 2006, is via the Berge Helene FPSO. Production from the field was recently enhanced by the drilling of two infill wells, increasing production from 12,000 to 17,500 boepd.
Tiof Field The Tiof field was discovered by the Tiof-1 well in November 2003 and quickly appraised by Tiof-2 in December 2003. Tiof is an independent structural closure within a Miocene channel sandstone system, located approximately 25 km north of the Chinguetti oil field. The Tiof sand channel system is a separate feature but of similar age to the oil and gas reservoir sands at Chinguetti and Banda.
The aerial extent of the field, which at over 60 sq km is roughly five times the footprint of the Chinguetti oil field, required a further 4-well appraisal program, which was carried out in late 2004 - early 2005. Each of the appraisal wells encountered oil and confirms a substantial volume of oil in place.
During 2006 and 2007, conceptual planning for a phased development of the Tiof field using a tension leg platform (TLP) continued. Initial development is expected to cover the central area of the field, with subsequent potential tiebacks of the remaining areas to the platform. A joint venture decision to proceed with a more detailed design tender is scheduled for 2009.
Tevet In September 2004 the Tevet-1 well was drilled within the Chinguetti EEA and made another significant oil discovery in similar sands. The Tevet Miocene discovery was again penetrated during September 2005 by the Tevet-2 appraisal well confirming the reservoir characteristics encountered in the discovery well. The 2004 well discovered an oil column of 44 metres below a minimum 68 metre gas leg. This field lies within tie-back distance to Chinguetti and development options for Tevet are being evaluated as part of a broader strategy for the optimal use of the Chinguetti production facilities and the development of other adjacent discoveries.
Banda The Banda discovery well drilled in 2002 encountered a 110 metre gross gas column and a 10-20 metre gross oil column. Approximately 75% of the Banda structure is situated in PSC A and 25% in PSC B. Two appraisal wells, Banda NW and Banda East, were drilled in 2008 to determine the commercial potential of the field. The wells encountered both oil and gas as prognosed and the joint venture is now evaluating the results and considering potential gas markets for the Banda field.
Pelican In December 2003 the Pelican-1 exploration well was drilled to a total depth of 3,825 metres in approximately 1,700 metres water depth on a large anticlinal feature. Evaluation of the wireline logs and pressure data indicated that the well intersected a gross gas column of approximately 370 metres within which a number of gas-bearing sands are present.
Licences Licence Fields Area Sq Km Tullow Interest Operator Other Partners Block 1 3,936 38.00% Dana GDF, Roc Oil Block 2 4,898 83.78% Tullow* Dana, Roc Oil PSC - Area A Block 3 Blocks 4 & 5 shallow Banda 6,969 24.30% Petronas Premier, Kufpec, Roc Oil PSC - Area B Blocks 4 & 5 deep Tiof, Banda Tevet 8,028 21.60% Petronas Premier, Kufpec, Roc Oil PSC - Area B Chinguetti EEA Chinguetti 929 19.01% Petronas SMH, Premier, Kufpec, Roc Oil Block 6 4,023 22.42% Petronas Roc Oil Block 7 6,676 16.20% Dana Petronas, GDF, Roc Oil Block 8 7,875 18.00% Dana GDF, Wintershall, Roc Oil
Note:* - Tullow has applied to take over the operatorship.
FAR Price at posting:
3.8¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
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