FAR puts Gambian drilling campaign into motion

Australia’s FAR Limited has successfully spudded the Bambo-1 exploration well, offshore The Gambia.

FAR confirmed in October this year that the drilling of the Bambo-1 well was scheduled to start on 13 November 2021. FAR Gambia, a wholly-owned subsidiary of FAR, reported the start of drilling operations on the Bambo-1 exploration well in Block A2 on Monday. The company confirmed that the Stena IceMax drillship arrived on site on 12 November. After completing preparations, the drillship successfully spudded the well.

The firm announced in June that a contract was signed for Stena IceMax – a Stena Drilling-owned rig – to drill the Bambo-1 exploration well, in hopes of a discovery that could lead to the country’s first oil production.

Cath Norman, FAR’s Managing Director, commented: “We are very excited to be drilling offshore The Gambia again and I thank our co-venturer Petronas and the Government of The Gambia for their support during a challenging period of uncertainty and delays. We’re looking forward to working safely and efficiently with our trusted partners at Exceed and Stena. The well will be run as a tight well, and we look forward to announcing drilling results at the appropriate time.”

Located approximately 85 kilometres offshore The Gambia, in 930 metres of water depth, the Bambo-1 well is planned to be drilled to a depth of approximately 3,400 metres. Based on FAR’s expectations, this drilling campaign could take approximately 30 days.

The firm explains that the well is designed to drill into a series of vertically stacked targets with a combined estimated recoverable, prospective resource of 1,118 mmbbls. The chance of geological success for the various horizons is calculated to range from 7 per cent to 36 per cent.

FAR outlined the targets for Bambo (S390 & S400) as two shallower horizons not previously intersected. The target for Soloo (S410 & S440) is the extension of the hydrocarbon-bearing reservoirs in the adjacent Sangomar oil field, offshore Senegal, while Soloo Deep (S552 & S562) is expected to provide two additional horizons, also not previously penetrated with a lower chance of success but higher potential volumes.

The estimated quantities of petroleum that may potentially be recovered by the future application of a development project may relate to undiscovered accumulations with an associated risk of discovery and risk of development. FAR claims that further exploration and appraisal are required to determine the existence of a significant quantity of potentially moveable hydrocarbons.

Furthermore, the prospective resources show that there is a 90 per cent, 50 per cent and 10 per cent probability respectively that the actual resource volume will be in excess of the amounts reported. The firm explains that the estimates are unrisked and have not been adjusted for both an associated chance of discovery and a chance of development.

FAR is the operator with a 50 per cent working interest in the A2 and A5 blocks, while its joint venture partner, PC Gambia – a subsidiary of Petronas – holds the remaining 50 per cent interest in these blocks.