Chariot unlocking Moroccan offshore gas fields

Africa-focused energy company Chariot has completed drilling operations on the Anchois gas project, located within the Lixus licence offshore Morocco, unlocking Moroccan offshore gas fields.

Chariot has a 75 per cent interest and operatorship of Lixus in partnership with the Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM), which holds a 25 per cent interest. Drilling operations were conducted using the Stena Don semi-submersible rig, which arrived in Morocco in December 2021.

Last week, the Anchois-2 well was announced as a significant gas discovery. Preliminary interpretation of the data confirmed the presence of significant gas accumulations in the appraisal and exploration objectives of the Anchois-2 well with a calculated net gas pay totalling more than 100m, compared to 55m in the original Anchois-1 discovery well.

The Anchois-2 well was then suspended for potential future re-entry and completion as a production well in the development of the field. The rig then moved to the Anchois-1 gas discovery well to perform re-entry operations with the objectives of assessing the integrity of the previously drilled well.

In an update on Tuesday, Chariot said that Anchois-1 was efficiently located and the wellhead was inspected, prepared, and successfully coupled with the Stena Don rig confirming its potential viability as a future producer well. To maintain efficiency, a decision was made not to take a Sand A gas sample in the Anchois-1 well as gas samples were successfully obtained in the previously drilled Anchois-2 well.

Anchois-1 operations will now complete with the well in a condition to allow for potential utilisation in the future development of the field.

Anchois-2 well has already been suspended for potential completion as a production well in the future development of the field. Extensive data was recovered from the multiple gas discoveries in the Anchois-2 well, including from a comprehensive sub-surface formation testing programme, which recovered twelve gas samples across seven gas-bearing reservoirs. The samples are currently en route to the laboratory for detailed analysis.

The Stena Don rig will begin demobilisation from the well sites imminently.

Adonis Pouroulis, Acting CEO of Chariot, commented: “In addition to having now two confirmed gas discovery wells, we have directly de-risked a material portfolio of prospects on the Lixus licence area.

“Our ambition is to bring the Anchois gas development online as quickly as possible, to fuel Morocco’s economic growth, but also to deliver near-term cash flows to the company. We will now look to conduct further analysis on our findings, to optimise our development plan for the field, with both wells earmarked to become potential production wells, as part of an accelerated field development plan for the benefit of all stakeholders.”

Pouroulis also added that the company is very excited about these positive results and the commercial potential of the expanded Anchois field along with the material upsides in the wider Lixus licence area.