By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Apr. 20 -- White Nile Ltd., London, spudded its first exploration well Apr. 19 on 67,000 sq km Block Ba in southern Sudan with a projected final depth of 7,850 ft.
The Kedelai drillsite is 200 km north of Juba in the Jonglei subbasin of the southeastern Muglad basin.
White Nile said high-density 2D seismic surveys show "a sedimentary section of up to 7 km in thickness and rift structures suitable for forming hydrocarbon traps" analogous to giant Thar Jath, Mala, Heglig, and Unity oil fields to the northwest. Those fields have estimated oil in place of 600 million, 550 million, and 1 billion bbl, respectively.
White Nile has identified numerous structures on the block.
The eastern part of Block Ba close to Ethiopia covers the southerly extension of the Melut basin, which has giant Palogue field with an estimated 2.9 billion bbl in place and giant Adar-Yale field with 276 million bbl. Geophysics have delineated other prospective basinal areas in Block Ba, White Nile said.
Total SA, Paris, also claims rights to explore a large area that includes Block Ba and is pursuing them in UK courts.
