Rick Wilkinson
OGJ Correspondent
MELBOURNE, June 1 -- Roc Oil Ltd., Sydney, this week will spud the first onshore well in Angola in 30 years.
The company's Massambala-1 wildcat in the Cabinda region of northern Angola follows 2 years of seismic surveys and geological studies (OGJ Online, Feb. 12, 2007).
The offshore Cabinda region produces more than half of the country's 1.4 million b/d of offshore oil, and Roc Oil believes the onshore sector could also be a rich oil province.
Decades of civil war and separatist insurgency in Cabinda precluded previous onshore exploration, but hostilities ended in 2002, followed by an accord between the Angolan government and the rebel Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda that gave the region special status and a larger share of local petroleum taxes and duties.
Roc Oil is operator of the Cabinda South Block and holds 60% interest. Force Petroleum Ltd. and Sonangol hold 20% each. Roc Oil plans to acquire more seismic data and drill 3-6 exploration wells in Cabinda this year.
