CNPC, TG World plan three Niger wildcats

Dec. 20, 2005
CNPC International (Tenere) Ltd. and TG World Energy Corp., Calgary, revealed the locations for the first two of three exploration wells planned on the Tenere Permit in eastern Niger.

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Dec. 20 -- CNPC International (Tenere) Ltd. and TG World Energy Corp., Calgary, revealed the locations for the first two of three exploration wells planned on the Tenere Permit in eastern Niger.

The first two exploration wells will target the T-10 and T-1 prospects in the West Fachi graben located in two of the five separate play fairways identified by seismic data collected earlier in 2005 (OGJ Online, Oct. 12, 2005).

Projected depths are 4,035 m and 3,671 m, respectively.
The 2006 exploration budget is $44 million, compared with $26 million spent in 2005. The first well is to be spudded in May-July 2006 with a Great Wall Drilling Corp. rig shipped from China.

The locations were chosen to optimize multiple reservoir plays in the wells, which will test deeper secondary and tertiary targets as well as shallow primary targets.

The uppermost primary target zone is the zone that has tested hydrocarbons on the adjacent Agadem Block about 125 km to the south, where units of ExxonMobil Corp. and Malaysia's Petronas have announced seven new field discoveries totaling more than 350 million bbl of recoverable oil.

The companies authorized 1,000 line-km of 2D seismic surveys and more geological and geophysical studies in 2006 on the 17.3 million acre Tenere Block. They also made provision to acquire as much as 150 sq km of 3D seismic data in the event of a discovery.

The seismic data to be acquired and information from the first two wells are to assist in determining the location for the third well, which is to be spudded in 2007.

Total cost of the minimum work program on the block is expected to be $90 million, compared with a 2004 estimate of $55 million.

CNPCIT holds 80% interest in the permit, and TG World holds 20%. TG World will be required to pay its 20% share of any seismic programs undertaken after the drilling of the first two exploration wells.