Anadarko's New Exploration Area's (55482 bytes)
Eritrea has awarded a production sharing contract (PSC) on a large tract in the Red Sea to a unit of Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Houston.
The PSC covers the 6.7 million acre Zula block surrounding the Dahlak archipelago off Eritreas central coast. The acreage lies near the Red Sea coastlines of Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
Anadarko Eritrea Co. expects to spend at least $28.5 million in the next 7 years exploring the block. The company described the Red Sea as one of the worlds few remaining underexplored areas.
Anadarko Eritrea plans to begin its exploration program about yearend 1995 with high density magnetic gravity surveys.
Only eight wells have tested Eritreas offshore area since 1965, including two on the Zula tract. However, APC said, well results verified key elements of a possible petroleum system: source rocks, seals, and reservoirs.
Existing seismic data indicate that Zulas geology includes structures associated with large salt features, widespread extensional faulting, and many structural closures. Salt in the region possibly has formed wide sheets similar to those found in the Gulf of Mexico.
Anadarko said its Gulf of Mexico experience with technology required to image beneath salt sheets and drill through them will be useful on the Zula block.
Eritrea has been rebuilding since becoming independent in May 1993. The country fought a 30 year war to win its freedom from Ethiopia, which forcibly annexed it in the early 1960s.
Anadarko is the first company to strike a deal with the new nation. The company had been discussing the PSC since Eritrea became independent. Copyright 1995 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.