Although technological difficulties prevented Australian company Invictus from extracting a fluid sample to satisfy regulatory standards to proclaim a commercial discovery, significant natural gas and oil reserves have since been identified in north-east Zimbabwe.

Invictus promised to keep the drilling rig in Zimbabwe for at least another 12 months to drill further holes after drilling the first hole in four months. The company has extended the employment contracts of every employee and will continue drilling to obtain the confirmation samples required for a formal strike declaration.

The discovery of hydrocarbons in Zimbabwe provides the country with additional energy resources and paves the way for rapid economic growth and development through the rise of downstream sectors, the creation of new jobs, and increases in export revenues and government income.

According to reports, Invictus Energy, which is looking for gas and oil in the Cabora Bassa Basin in the Mbire District of Mashonaland Central, has discovered 13 prospective hydrocarbon-bearing zones at its Mukuyu-1 well.

Technical analysis of the findings from recent exploration drilling has confirmed that the nation has significant oil and gas reserves, comparable to those recently discovered in neighbouring nations like Namibia and Uganda, although those countries had to drill many hundreds of holes before finding success.

This week, the 20% local partner of Invictus Energy, Geo-Associates, revealed that the indicated zones have elevated gas shows (surface gas) with saturation levels as high as 90%.

Due to technical and operational difficulties at the site, Invictus stated at the beginning of this month that fluid samples could not be obtained from the Mukuyu-1 well. In September of last year, the Mukuyu-1 well drilling process started.