7 September 2011, Sweetcrude, Brazzaville – London-listed Soco International has spudded the Mindou Marine-1 exploration well in the Marine XI Block, off Congo-Brazzaville (Republic of the Congo).
The well is targeting the Toca limestones in the Congo basin, with the Djeno sandstone prospect as a secondary target.
Soco said both targets were below the salt layer with a combined unrisked, pre-drill mean prospective recoverable resource estimate of 165 million barrels.
Drilling commenced on Monday using the semi-submersible rig Ensco 5003 and is expected to take between 35 and 45 days to reach a planned depth of 3400 metres.
