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Wednesday, September 11, 2013
For Brazilian firm HRT the third time was not a charm. The company has struck out in Namibia with the drilling of its Moosehead-1 well on PEL 24 in the Orange Basin. The well was the third well drilled by HRT with less than stellar results, with the Moosehead being declared a dry hole.
The Moosehead-1 well was located in 1,716 meters of water and was drilled to 4,170 meters of measured total depth. The well was drilled, wireline logged and P&A, in a total of 47 days, by the Transocean Marianas semi-submersible rig. The well completed HRT’s Namibian drilling campaign and the Transocean Marianas is available for sublease.
The main objective of the Moosehead-1 well was to test the resource potential of Barremian-aged carbonate reservoirs, expected to be equivalent to the ‘pre-salt’ reservoirs of Brazil and Angola, within a 546 sq km 4-way dip closure, mapped on 3D seismic. Extensive formation evaluation was performed to confirm the nature and quality of the carbonate reservoir and source rock intervals, including wireline logs and sidewall core samples.
The Moosehead-1 well encountered about 100 meters of carbonates at the primary target. The nature of the reservoir, though further analysis of data collected will be necessary, appears similar to the ‘pre-salt’ reservoirs as predicted. However, porosity was less developed than expected in this location, and is being considered a dry hole. Wet gas shows were encountered in the section that increased in wetness with depth. At least two potential source rocks were penetrated, including the well-developed Aptian-age source rock. Indications of source rocks in the deeper rift section were also apparent, though not penetrated. Further analysis of the well sampling will greatly help with continuing exploration on the HRT blocks in Namibia.
“The Moosehead well concludes HRT’s first drilling campaign in Namibia with very important geological information even though no pay zones were found in this well. The time has come for a thorough analysis of our three well results and assets in Namibia to develop new plans for 2014 and 2015. We conclude this campaign with the understanding that both the Orange and Walvis basins, tested with drilling, are oil and gas prone basins, new exploration efforts will bring commercial hydrocarbon discoveries and that HRT will be part of the future of Namibian exploration,” highlighted Milton Franke, the CEO of HRT.
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