The BP PLC-operated Yakaar-1 well offshore Senegal intersected a gross hydrocarbon column of 120 m in three pools within the primary Lower Cenomanian objective and encountered 45 m of net pay.
The well was drilled to a total depth of 4,700 m in 2,550 m of water on the Cayar Offshore Profond block by Atwood Oceanics Inc.’s Atwood Achiever ultradeepwater dynamically positioned drillship. Results confirm the presence of thick, stacked reservoir sands over a very large area with very good porosity and permeability, partner Kosmos Energy Ltd. says.
Yakaar-1 is the first well in a series of four independent tests of the basin floor fan fairways, outboard of the proven slope channel trend opened with the Tortue-1 discovery.
Andrew G. Inglis, Kosmos chairman and chief executive officer, commented, “Kosmos has a 100% success rate in the basin with six consecutive successful exploration and appraisal wells drilled to date, confirming that our geologic model and geophysical tools are well-calibrated. Yakaar-1 discovered a major gas resource. Together with the Teranga-1 discovery made last year, we believe this resource will support a second cost-competitive LNG hub.”
Inglis said, “The result also confirms our view of the potential scale of the petroleum system offshore Mauritania and Senegal, in particular the basin floor fan systems which have now been further derisked, with the well demonstrating that reservoir and trap both work in these previously untested fairways.”
After completion of operations on the Yakaar-1 well, the Atwood Achiever will mobilize to the Tortue-1 well to conduct a drillstem test on the Tortue discovery, enabling the commencement of front-end engineering design in the second half, final investment decision in 2018, and the start of production in 2021. Tortue is estimated to contain more than 15 tcf of discovered gas resources.
BP and Kosmos will drill 3 additional exploration wells over the next 12 months offshore Senegal and Mauritania.
BP in April agreed to increase its investment in Senegal by acquiring the full 30% minority participating interests held by Timis Corp. on the Cayar Profond and Saint-Louis Profond blocks. The move followed BP’s entry into Mauritania and Senegal through an agreement with Kosmos in December 2016 (OGJ Online, Dec. 19, 2016).
On completion of the deals, participating interests in the Senegal blocks will be similar to the aligned partnership in Mauritania, with BP holding participating and effective working interests of close to 60%, Kosmos close to 30%, and Societe des Petroles du Senegal (Petrosen) 10%.
