US group Anadarko Petroleum will start prospecting for oil and gas in the Kifaru.1 well, located in the Rovuma onshore concession in northern Mozambique, according to Wentworth Resources, one of the partner companies in the consortium.
The presence of sands from the Miocene period, as well as the Oligocene and Cretaceous, will be the focus of research in Kifaru-1 well, which will be about 4,050 metres deep, if prospecting continues for at least 70 days.
According to Wenthworth Resources, which owns an 11.59 percent stake in onshore Rovuma concession, led by Anadarko (35.70 percent), which is listed on the alternative investment market of the London Stock Exchange, as well as in Oslo, the search will look for evidence of the presence of hydrocarbons similar to those found in the r natural gas fields of Msimbati and Mnazi Bay in southern Tanzania.
In the latter, whose concession is led by France’s Maurel & Prom, which has a 27.71-percent share in Anadarko’s concession, Wenthworth Resources has a 31.94 percent stake. According to the company the first natural gas extraction activities, which will be processed in Dar es Salaam, after transport through a pipeline that was funded by the Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim Bank) and developed by China National Petroleum Corporation, are expected by April.
The Kifaru-1 well, located in the north of the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, will be the fourth to be analysed by the consortium’s research teams.
According to Wenthworth Resources, all four previous prospecting areas found evidence of hydrocarbons, such as oil and gas in Mocímboa-1. However, their exploration by the consortium, which is also owned by Mozambican state oil ad gas company ENH with 15 percent, and Thailand’s PTT Exploration in Production (PPTEP), with 10 percent.
In addition to this concession, Anadarko Petroleum (26.5 percent) leads the Area-1 consortium, off the coast of Cabo Delgado province, which includes ENH (15 percent), India’s ONGC Videsh (20 percent) and BRPL Ventures (10 percent), Japan’s Mitsui & Co (20%) and Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production (8.5 percent), where reserves of 50 to 70 trillion cubic feet of natural gas have been found.
In its initial phase, the plans for this project will require the construction of two natural gas liquefaction units in the Afungi Peninsula, Palma district, involving a collaboration with neighbouring consortium led by Italy’s ENI, in Area-4, since the two grants share a natural gas reservoir: Mamba (Area-4) and Prosperidade (Area-1).
The development of these two units may involve investments of about US$16 billion, and its commissioning scheduled for 2018, according to the most optimistic estimates of local authorities. (macauhub/MZ).
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