FAR Ltd, an Australian oil and gas exploration firm, has signed a contract with Stena Drilling’s Stena Drillmax Ice, to begin drilling operations in the Bambo-1 well, offshore Gambia, by the end of 2021.
Between October 1st and November 30th, Stena Drilling’s IceMAX drillship will begin drilling in Block A2, with the access to drill into three reservoirs with an estimated recoverable potential of 1.1 billion barrels of oil.
The hydrocarbon-bearing Soloo Prospect, as well as the undrilled Bambo and Soloo Deep Prospects, are among the three reservoirs identified by FAR.
The drillship is planned to take 30 days to drill with a target depth of 3,266 metres below 993 metres of water, 85 kilometres offshore and 500 metres south of the Senegal-Gambia border.
FAR Managing Director, Cath Norman stated that the discovery of oil has the potential lead the west-African country out of its current ‘energy poverty’ and, “transition from burning heavy fuel oil for power generation.”
“The rig is planned to commence drilling in Q4 this year and the well will be the first well to be drilled in the Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bisseau, and Guinea-Conakry (MSGBC) Basin since the collapse of the market in the wake of the oil price crash and the COVID-19 pandemic and we look forward to getting back to the basics at FAR and delivering value to our shareholders through successful exploration drilling.”
Exploration of the A2 and A5 Block permits in The Gambia are a joint venture between FAR (50%) and PC Gambia Ltd. (50%), a subsidiary of Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas.
