17 March 2014, News Wires – Exploration offshore Morocco continues to gather pace with two companies announcing drilling news Monday.
UK independent Cairn Energy said it has completed the drilling of its JM-1 well, while Fastnet Oil & Gas reported that its partner in the Foum Assaka license has confirmed the spud of the FA-1 well, which is targeting the Eagle prospect.
Cairn said the JM-1 well, which was drilled to evaluate Upper Jurassic and Middle Jurassic objectives in the Cap Juby structure, reached a total depth of 12,176 feet.
In the Upper Jurassic section it confirmed the presence of heavy oil over a gross interval of 360 feet, as originally tested in the 1968 MO-2 well that was located some 1.5 miles from the JM-1 well.
Cairn said that reservoir quality and the oil gravity in the Upper Jurassic across the Cap Juby structure require further evaluation by Cairn.
Work is ongoing to correlate the core and log data from the JM-1 with other wells on Cap Juby to work out the extent of movable hydrocarbons and how any further assessment should be conducted.
The well’s Middle Jurassic objective found limited primary porosity and the evaluation of well logs and side wall cores is continuing, Cairn added. The JM-1 well – in which Cairn holds a 37.5-percent interest – has now been plugged and abandoned.
Fastnet’s FA-1 well, which is being drilled by Kosmos Energy, is located in approximately 1,970 feet and has a planned target depth of 13,120 feet. The well is estimated to contain resources of 360 million barrels of oil equivalent in its primary deepwater Lower Cretaceous reservoir objective.
It is expected to take up to three months to reach its target depth. Fastnet Managing Director Paul Griffiths commented in a company statement: “We are delighted that drilling has commenced on schedule on the Eagle Prospect.
The results from the FA-1 well will allow us to further evaluate and potentially de-risk the varied and near-term drilling targets in the Foum Assaka Licence where we and our partners see significant potential upside.”
Offshore Morocco is expected to see plenty of activity in 2014 as several more firms step up their exploration campaigns in the region.
– Rigzone