Tullow Oil PLC is suspending its Paipai-1 wildcat in northwestern Kenya while concluding that it has telegraphed the existence of a viable Cretaceous play in this part of the Anza basin even though it was unable to recover hydrocarbons to surface.
Options for the well, which went to a total depth of 4,255 m on Block 10A in Marsabit County to evaluate a large Cretaceous structural closure, are flow testing and reservoir stimulation, Tullow said. The company will also review follow-up Cretaceous prospects.
Paipai-1 encountered light hydrocarbon shows while drilling a 55-m thick gross sandstone interval overlain by a 200-m thick source rock that forms an effective regional top seal. Several attempts to sample the initial reservoir fluids were unsuccessful, and the hydrocarbons encountered while drilling could not be recovered to surface, Tullow said.
After Paipai is suspended, the rig will move to Block 10BB in the South Lokichar basin to drill the Etuko prospect in the undrilled basin flank play. The move is expected to take 3 months.
Interests in Paipai-1 are Tullow 50%, Africa Oil Corp. 30%, and Afren PLC 20%.
