• Wednesday, 16 May, 2012

Eni goes massive on Mamba South

By Iain Esau London

 04 November 2011 01:17 GMT

Italian major Eni has boosted its estimate of in-place gas reserves in its deep-water Mamba South prospect in Mozambique’s ­Rovuma basin to a massive 22.5 trillion cubic feet.

A week after announcing that its debut deep-water wildcat in Area 4 was estimated to have found about 15 Tcf of in-place gas in a Tertiary reservoir, deeper drilling has intercepted a second Tertiary reservoir which the ­operator reckons holds a further 7.5 Tcf of in-place resource.

The Mamba South-1 probe is currently drilling ahead to its ­target depth of 5000 metres, with Eni giving no indication as to whether it expected to hit any more reservoirs.

The initial 15 Tcf estimate ­related to 212 metres of continuous gas pay in Oligocene sands while this latest reservoir, in which 90 metres of gross pay was intercepted, is Eocene in age.

Before drilling, Eni assessed Area 4’s in-place resource potential at between 10 Tcf and 20 Tcf. It appears that Mamba South is an extension of one of the discoveries — Windjammer, Barquentine, ­Lagosta, Tubarao and Camarao — that Anadarko Petroleum made in adjacent Area 1 to the west, in the same Tertiary reservoirs.

According Anadarko, Mamba South lies just 300 metres from the boundary with Area 1 and 1.5 kilometres from its ­Lagosta-1 exploration well.

When asked by analysts about possible unitisation discussions with the Area 1 partners, Alessandro Bernini, Eni’s chief financial officer, said “we have not talked to Anadarko yet”, but added that “part of the field will need to be unitised.”

He declined to expand further on unitisation: “It is a very sensitive issue, and I don’t think it is very wise to talk and disclose ­anything about unitisation before talking with Anadarko and the government.”

While warning that studies are at an early stage, Bernini ­suggested that “average” recovery rates could lie between 65% and 90%.

If correct, this would put ­Mamba South’s recoverable gas reserves at between 14. 5 Tcf and more than 20 Tcf. Eni has made no mention of liquids. Mamba South-1 is being drilled by the Saipem 10,000 drillship in 1585 metres of water in the Rovuma basin.

After completing drilling and testing activities, the drillship will mobilise about 22 kilometres north to drill Eni’s second commitment well, Mamba North-1.

This planned probe is thought to lie within 10 kilometres of ­Anadarko’s Windjammer and Barquentine gas discovery wells.

The size of Eni’s discovery would suggest the company wants to use this resource to ­underpin construction of a greenfield liquefied natural gas facility, or perhaps it would open the door to co-operation with Anadarko’s planned onshore LNG plant. Traditionally, in sub-Saharan Africa, Eni would want some of the gas to be used locally, so some of the ­resource could be fed to a new power station.

Sources previously suggested that a two-train LNG complex could be on the cards for Eni, and that early studies had been carried out. Eni said it “has already begun the front-end activities” covering the “timely” marketing of the gas both internationally and locally.

With state-owned ­Korea Gas Corporation (Kogas) ­being a minority partner in Area 4, it is expected that much of the gas would head to South Korea.

Before Mamba South’s second reservoir was found, Kogas said three more wells would be drilled by January 2013. After the initial discovery, Eni’s chief executive Paolo Scaroni told reporters that Mamba South was big enough for Eni “to go it alone” when it comes to a gas-related development, suggesting the asset could produce ­between 1.1 billion and 1.65 billion cubic feet per day.

On completion of Mamba North-1, Eni will use the Saipem 10,000 to drill two more wells on Area 4 next year, possibly appraising both finds.

The operator said it “is expected that the unprecedented potential of the Tertiary play existing in Area 4 will be further defined in the forthcoming appraisal campaign”.

Eni has a 70% stake in Area 4 and is partnered by Galp and Kogas, both on 10%, with state-owned ENH on a 10% carried stake.



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