By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Sept. 22 -- Zulu Energy Corp., Denver, said it unexpectedly encountered conventional gas while drilling a well in search of coalbed methane in the northeastern part of nonproducing Botswana.
The well, one of four exploration wells being drilled by Zulu Energy's Nyati Resources Botswana subsidiary, was shut in until safety equipment could arrive. The well hit the gas in sandstones of the Upper Karoo Group beneath the Holocene Kalahari sand and Stormberg Lava Group.
Nine wells are planned to confirm the coal deposit, estimate gas content, and identify production pilot locations. Coring continued at another well 48 km from the indicated discovery well.
Zulu Energy's Pandamatenga licenses cover 2.2 million acres in an extension of the Mid-Zambezi basin in northeastern Botswana. The main objective is coalbed methane in the Lower Ecca Group of the Permian Karoo Supergroup.