Afren to start 2D Seismic in Kenya’s Block 1 in Q2

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Afren has announced that the company together with partners plans to shoot 150-250 km of additional 2D seismic in Block 1 in Q2 2014 followed by an exploration well a postponement from the earlier scheduled date in Q1 earlier.

Block 1 is situated in North Eastern Kenya bordering Somalia and Ethiopia has been identified to have oil potential in the Upper Triassic and Jurassic formations.

Already the block has seen confirmation of the presence of hydrocarbons after an oil seep by the Tarbaj well in the south-west corner of the block.

On the Ethiopian side  along the Ogaden basin 1900 km of 2D seismic have been carried out which has enhanced the view that the south of the basin (which is at the Block 1) has higher oil prospectivity.

The Bur Mayo and the Kalicha-Seir formations in the Mandera-Lugh basin appear comparable to the Lower and Upper Hamanlei (Jurassic) formations in the Ogaden basin.

Afren is thus hoping that it can find analogous formations in the block that have  high total organic content source rocks and good quality reservoirs.

Several major structures have already been mapped on the block with the 850 km of existing 2D seismic coverage that was carried out by Chinese company BGP under contract from Canadian company Taipan Resources.

Afren has 80 percent working interest in the Block 1 and Taipan resources has 20 percent interest with East Africa Exploration Kenya Ltd (a subsidiary of Afren) being the operator.

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