Ocelot schedules Gabon E&D work programs

• Ocelot's Gabon Permits [21770 bytes]

The government awarded contracts totaling 20 years involving exploration, exploitation, and production-sharing to Ocelot Nze Gabon Inc. and Ocelot M'Bindji Gabon Inc., units of Ocelot Energy Inc., Calgary.

Total capital involved is $20 million for the exploration agreement. The exploitation agreement involves a work program, which will be proposed by Ocelot in February 1997.

Contracts

Ocelot Nze Gabon was awarded an exploitation and production-sharing contract for the Panthere-Nze G5-69 permit, covering four areas within 30 km of each other on the central coastal plain, 85 km inland and about 225 km south of the capital of Libreville.

Ocelot has the exclusive right to develop and produce crude oil and natural gas from a total area of 120 sq km, consisting of separate discovery areas formerly designated as Obangue, Autour, Pomarin, and Mokabou exploitation concessions.

The government awarded Ocelot M'Bindji Gabon an exploration and production-sharing contract covering the M'Bindji G4-172 permit, which provides exclusive rights to explore a 3,778-sq-km area north and east of the Panthere-Nze permit.

The permit extends about 100 km south from the city of Lambarene on the Ogoue River and as far east as the interior highlands, which define the eastern margin of the coastal sedimentary basin, Ocelot said.

Ocelot said its permit areas have no current production. All wells that have been drilled have been either shut in or abandoned.

Panthere-Nze plans

Beginning in mid-1997, Ocelot will conduct comprehensive production testing of existing wells on the Panthere-Nze permit.

Five wells have been drilled, all of which have produced oil during production tests or on drill stem tests from about 4,500 ft, Ocelot said.

Ocelot estimates Panthere-Nze undeveloped reserves at 20-30 million bbl. Ocelot has proposed an early production scheme, with first production in fourth quarter 1997. Production will be moved by barge to storage and loading facilities.

Full production totaling 5,000-10,000 b/d from two field areas is expected late in 2000. Ocelot said this will be accomplished via a combination of barge and road transportation until a proposed 35 km pipeline is constructed to link the northern and southern field areas, based on project economics.

Ocelot said the easternmost portion of the permit area will be evaluated and developed upon completion of the pipeline.

M'Bindji work

Five wells have been drilled in the M'Bindji permit area.

Ocelot said two wells, 1 Onal and 2 Onal, tested 30° paraffinic crude from the basal sand unit, the Gres de base.

The wells are about 5 km apart, but are interpreted to have been drilled on the same faulted anticline structure.

Ocelot M'Bindji Gabon has committed to shoot additional seismic and drill as many as three exploratory wells as part of the work program.

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