Oil Review Africa
North Africa-focused explorer San Leon Energy has announced the discovery of gas at Tarfaya Block onshore Morocco.
The well Laayoune-4 was drilled with Entrepose Drilling’s Cabot 750 rig, targeting Tertiary channel sandstones and with an expected total depth of around 2,000 metres below rotary table (mBRT).
Morocco’s Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM) and San Leon Energy intend to jointly apply for a new eight-year exploration licence. The explorer also wants to acquire a 3D seismic survey across the multiple channels of the Tertiary play, one channel of which was drilled by the well.
The work confirmed the presence of gas shows, the ‘good quality’ of the reservoir and the ‘encouraging potential of the block’, San Leon Energy said.
Oisin Fanning, San Leon Energy’s executive chairman, said, “We are very pleased with the results of the Laayoune-4 well. Confirming the presence of gas shows and good reservoir quality is encouraging for the potential of the block and leads naturally to applying for a new eight year licence in the area, which would allow for seismic acquisition to be performed over the full channel complex.
“It would also enable additional data to be acquired over the deeper Jurassic and Triassic prospects. We are grateful to the operational team and to the local workers who together ensured that the well was drilled efficiently and safely.”
According to the company, gas shows were encountered within the reservoir section, whose gross thickness of 23 metres of sandstone and conglomerate was around 10 metres more than prognosed. Reservoir interval porosity was up to 18, with some carbonate laminae. The reservoir was encountered some 100 metres more shallow to prognosis, and confirmed the geological concept of a thick sand channel system.
